893.00/15038½
Memorandum by the Second Secretary of Embassy in China (Davies), Temporarily in the United States
Struggle for Power in China
This noon I had luncheon with Mr. David Lu, Central News representative in Washington, and Major General Whang Ping-hung, Chinese Air Attaché.
During the course of the conversation Mr. Lu mentioned a rumor which had come to his attention to the effect that the Generalissimo had opposed General Stilwell’s proposal for the training and equipping of 600,000 Chinese troops because General Chiang realized that the general who commanded these troops would be strong enough to challenge his position. Mr. Lu stated that such a rumor was false and vicious.
General Whang, to my surprise, smiled tolerantly and said something to the effect that Mr. Lu did not realize the complexity of Chinese politics.
Mr. Lu then asked why the Generalissimo did not appoint one of his own trusted lieutenants, such as General Ho Ying-chin or General Chen Cheng. Thereupon Genaral Whang said that while high officials of the Government talked in public about there being only one leader—Chiang Kai-shek—in private they were interested only in furthering their own power. He stated that Chen Cheng, who is in command of the divisions now being trained and equipped in Yunnan, would, when the training program was completed, be the strongest figure in China and that he would probably then bring T. V. Soong back to be the political head of the Government.