760C.61/1061: Telegram
The Chargé in China (Vincent) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:37 a.m.]
632. Reference my 616, April 29, noon [midnight].62 General Wang Peng-sheng, close adviser to the Generalissimo on Japanese affairs, [Page 52] in recent conversation with a member of my staff, expressed the belief that America should move at once to ensure that British Government takes a firm attitude toward the Sikorski63 Government forcing it to forego further disruptive action and to placate the Russians as far as possible. He argued that unless the Soviet Union was supported in this matter it would slacken the fight and turn its thoughts toward a separate peace. He maintained that the matter of which Polish Government rules Poland is one for decision after the war and that dissatisfaction and defection on the part of the Sikorski Government is unimportant compared to even a slight slackening of Russian participation in the United Nations effort.
Wang’s emphasis upon the importance of placating Russia was somewhat explained when he went on to urge that Russia should be persuaded to open up a second front against Japan with full American and Chinese cooperation. He argued that Japan could now be crushed much more quickly than Germany but if it were allowed sufficient time to consolidate gains and coordinate its economic and political framework more completely it would before long become even harder to crush than Germany.