Summary. Mr. Service states that General Feng
Yu-hsiang,59 in a recent interview with a foreign
newspaper correspondent, described as substantially correct the story of
the plot containing the plans for the detention of President Chiang
Kai-shek at Kunming, the demands for the removal of Dr. H. H. Kung,
General Ho Ying-chin, Dr. Chen Li-fu and Mr. Chen Kuo-fu and the
subsequent discovery of the conspiracy resulting in the arrest and
execution of 16 generals. Madame Sun Yat-sen60 has informed Mr. Service of her knowledge of the
existence of such a group. She said that the plot had caused great
concern in the “highest places” (apparently a reference to the
Generalissimo), that it was not yet known whether it had been completely
uncovered as it had wide ramifications throughout the army and that it
actually involved a threatened coup d’état.
Whampoa military sources explain the plot as being connected with
General Ho Ying-chin’s attempt to institute a general staff system
modeled along German lines (as described in Embassy’s despatch under
reference) and deny that it was aimed at the removal of General Ho.
Although Chinese official quarters may continue to deny officially the
existence
[Page 335]
of this plot,
details thereof have been reported by a considerable number of important
non-communist sources at Chungking. End of
Summary.
[Enclosure]
Memorandum by the Second Secretary of Embassy in
China (Service)
[Chungking,] February 10, 1944.
Subject: “Young Generals Group”.
To: Assistant Chief of Staff, G–2.61
The following reports are submitted in continuation of previous memoranda
regarding the formation and exposure of a group within the Chinese Army
which had the intention of bringing pressure on the Generalissimo to
make certain important government changes.
Guenther Stein (Manchester Guardian and Christian Science Monitor) in an interview with
General Feng Yu-hsiang about 10 days ago, inquired whether the current
story of an officers group was true. The General asked: “What is your
version?” Stein then recounted a rather extreme story of the affair
(which he says he had heard from several reliable Chinese contacts)
mentioning, for instance: the intention to kidnap Chiang in Kunming, the
demands that Ho Ying-chin, H. H. Kung and the Chen brothers be removed,
and the subsequent arrest and execution of 16 generals. General Feng’s
only comment was: “Your report is substantially correct”.
Today I mentioned the affair to Madame Sun Yat-sen, asking her opinion of
the effort of certain (Kuomintang) quarters to cast the blame for it on
the Communists. She said that she knew that such a group had existed,
that it had caused a great deal of concern in the “highest places”
(apparently a reference to her brother-in-law, the Generalissimo), that
there had been “a lot” of arrests, that they were not yet satisfied that
they had completely uncovered its ramifications because it was
widespread and included a considerable section of the army, and that it
actually involved a threatened coup d’état. The
attempt to blame the Communists, she said, was absurd because the plot
was thoroughly “Fascist” in spirit and objective. She added that if the
Kuomintang believed its own story that Communist intrigue could have
such influence in the army, it would not now be willing to negotiate
with the Communists.
White62 (Luce
Publications) has the following explanation of the affair which he says
comes from a “high and reliable Whampoa (military)
[Page 336]
source”. “General Ho Ying-chin has been
trying to institute a General Staff system, modeled after the German,
throughout the Chinese Army. Under this system, representatives of the
General Staff (under Ho Ying-chin) would be in a position to more or
less dictate to field commanders to whom they were attached, even though
the field commanders might be senior in rank. To carry this out, Ho has
been using the graduates of the Staff College (Lu Chün Ta Hsueh) which
is under Ho’s domination. Attempts to set up the system have created
friction in the Army especially under commanders, such as Chen Cheng,
who are unfriendly to Ho. The staff officers, finding themselves unable
to accomplish very much (and possibly with what they might have
considered tacit approval of Ho), decided to take matters into their own
hands. The present conspiracy was started by 16 members of the 9th class
of the Staff College, all of whom have been arrested.” This story agrees
in some particulars with other reports. It also explains some seeming
inconsistencies: that General Chang Chih-chung (see my memorandum of
February 363) does not name Ho
Ying-chin as one of the targets; and that General Chen Cheng is reported
by some sources to have been responsible for exposing the plot. However
the report of motivation hardly seems satisfactory and the Whampoa
source is probably not unprejudiced.
These reports bring the number of important non-Communist sources from
which this story has come to more than ten. It is understandable that
the Chinese for “face” reasons may refuse to admit officially the
existence of such dissension within the Army. It is significant,
however, that not a single source which I have approached has been
without knowledge of it.
