893.00/15256: Telegram
The Under Secretary of State (Stettinius) to the Ambassador in China (Gauss)
239. 1. Department has given careful consideration to Embassy’s 277, February 11, noon and fully approves of action taken by General Hearn.
2. Have you any information indicating that American Lend-Lease equipment has in the past been used by Chinese Government forces against the Chinese Communists or that the Government forces blockading the Communists are equipped with Lend-Lease materials?
3. The Department would appreciate receiving your comments as to whether you have reason to believe that General Yu’s approach to General Hearn is indicative of a growing seriousness in the situation between the Kuomintang and the Communists and whether you have any reason for revising the opinion expressed in the final paragraph of your 258, February 8, 3 p.m. in which you stated that while the present is a danger period during which Kuomintang diehards might favor an attack on the Communists, both domestic and international considerations seem to make civil war unlikely at this time.