Office of the Historian

893.00/15131: Telegram

The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State

Chungking, September 25, 1943—2 p.m.
[Received September 26—12:44 a.m.]

1804. The Third People’s Political Council opened September 18 with 193 of 240 delegates in attendance. Although local press announced that members of Communist Party and of all other political parties were present, actually only 5 representatives of minority [Page 344] parties attended (1 Communist, 1 National Socialist and 3 China Youth Party delegates). The Government had endeavored to obtain large minority party delegation but many minority delegates are reported to have refused to attend, some allegedly fearing to come to Chungking because of the secret police and others feeling that the PPC is under complete Kuomintang control. This attitude toward the PPC seems to have developed largely since last year’s session.

On September 21 General Ho Ying-chin during report on military affairs is said to have made bitter attack against the Communists which resulted in the withdrawal of the single Communist delegate from the meeting. The only publicity given to this incident was a report in the local Communist daily that the Communist delegate withdrew from the PPC after his report and would not again attend.

The PPC meetings, coming so soon after the CEC session, have been somewhat anti-climactic and are expected to do little more than echo what has been resolved by the CEC. Neutral observers believe that the PPC will emphasize the advent of constitutional government after the war. Wang Chung-hui and Wang Shih-chieh have been elected members of the PPC Presidium, apparently with a view to increasing the prestige of the Council, while Chiang Kai-shek has resigned from the Presidium presumably because of his election to the Presidency of the National Government.

We will expect to report further by despatch52 at the close of the PPC session.

Gauss
  1. Despatch No. 1676, October 14, not printed; it reported appointment of Shao Li-tzu, former Chinese Ambassador in the Soviet Union, as Secretary General of the People’s Political Council.↩