893.00/15313
The Second Secretary of Embassy in China (Drumright) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 25.]
Subject: Conditions in Chinese Communist Occupied Areas of North Shensi.
Sir: I have the honor to set forth below a report of conditions in the Chinese Communist-occupied areas of north Shensi as related to me by a Sian newspaperman. My informant said that he had obtained his information from a former classmate who had gone to Yenan several years ago, who had joined the Communist organization, who had served as a secretary to a prominent Communist official, and who had fled from Yenan in December 1943.
Summary. There are three factions in Yenan. The controlling clique is headed by Mao Tse-tung. A second group is headed by Chen Shao-yu and the third by Chu Teh. The spirit and idealism prevalent in Yenan five or six years ago have now waned and many formerly enthusiastic followers of the Communist cause now wish to abandon it. The Communists are reported to have restricted the free relations between the sexes hitherto existing and to have curtailed political activities of women.
Factionalism in Yenan. There are said to be three main factions or groups contending for political supremacy in the Chinese Communist hierarchy. The first of these is the so-called “Political Faction” [Page 368] which is dominated by Mao Tse-tung. This group is struggling to retain its political and military supremacy over the Communist Party and other Communist organizations. The policy of Mao and his group is to build up a powerful Communist organization which would be relatively independent of the Kuomintang and of Soviet Russia. His ultimate object is to gain political and military control of China. General Peng Teh-huai and General Ho Lung are said to be adherents of the Mao group. General Peng is now field commander of the Chinese Communist armed forces and therefore very powerful and influential. General Ho Lung commands a strong Communist army which is normally stationed in northwest Shansi but which is reported at present as being in north Shensi. This faction has on various occasions defied the Kuomintang and the Central Government and evidently proposes to resist the use of coercion or force to bring about dissolution of the Communist organization.
The second political group is said to be known as the “International Faction”. Although bearing the label “international”, this group has as its dominant policy cooperation with the U. S. S. R. Before the dissolution thereof, this faction was reported to maintain close contact with the Third International. The dissolution of the latter was evidently quite a blow to this Chinese Communist faction. The leader of this faction is Chen Shao-yu who is also known by the pen name of Wang Ming. Mr. Chen is noted in Chinese Communist circles for his writing and speech-making ability. He and his group are reported to be violently anti-Kuomintang. Their power and influence in Yenan do not appear to be very great. Fundamentally, they remain close to the “Political Faction” of Mao Tse-tung.
The third group is commonly called the “Military Group” or “Military Faction”, presumably because its leader is General Chu Teh, Commander in Chief of the 18th Group Army (Communist), and because its ranks include other military leaders such as Hsu Hsiangchien and Lin Piao. This faction, headed by the venerable Chu, is said to advocate compromise and peaceful settlement of the Kuomintang–Communist problem. It is said to oppose another armed struggle with the Central Government as disastrous to China and to the Communist Party. This faction is said to have enlisted the support of Chou En-lai who is reported as being out of favor with Mao Tse-tung. The power and influence of this faction appear to be limited in relation to that exercised by Mao and his faction. General Chu Teh is old and has been succeeded in active command by General Peng Teh-huai, who, as set forth above, is reported to be a member of the Mao clique. In the absence of unforeseen developments, it would appear that this group is scarcely powerful enough to overcome the Mao junta.
[Page 369]Waning of spirit and idealism at Yenan. The spirit and idealism which pervaded Yenan five or six years ago and which attracted so many Chinese youth to the Chinese Communist banner no longer exist. This metamorphosis is a product of both international and internal developments. The policy of the U. S. S. R. has been bewildering and inexplicable even to seasoned Communists and the charges of “imperialism” once so freely leveled at the United States and Great Britain from Yenan do not appear to have been borne out. The inertia in the Chinese Communist struggle against Japan, the gradual worsening of relations with Chungking, the rise of internal factions and schisms, the planting of opium, the lack of restraint in relations among the sexes, the increasing difficulties of living—all these—tended to produce disillusionment among those who had gone to Yenan fired with a zeal to drive out the Japanese and erect a democratic Utopia in China. They found that Yenan after all was not the place from which to erect such a foundation. Many wished to desert Yenan as quickly as they had come, but they found that this involved enormous difficulties. Not only is it difficult to avoid the Chinese Communist “Gestapo”, but the reception of Yenan deserters in Chungking territory is uncertain. They may be regarded as “traitors” or as “spies” and lenient treatment may involve a “purging of heterodox thoughts” in the Northwest Youth Labor Camp established in the suburbs of Sian.
Restriction of relations between sexes. It is common knowledge that hitherto relations between men and women in the Communist groups were extraordinarily free and productive of immorality on a wide scale. The Chinese Communists have now taken steps, it is reported, to curtail this freedom of relations between the sexes.
Restrictions of activities of women. In line with the limiting of relations between the sexes, the Chinese Communists are reported to be restricting the political and other activities of women. It is suggested that this conforms to a similar policy reported to have been carried out in the Soviet Union.
Respectfully yours,