Office of the Historian

893.01/973: Telegram

The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Hamilton) to the Secretary of State

Moscow, May 6, 1944.
[Received May 7—12:35 p.m.]

1592. Pravda of May 6 carries a prominently displayed and unusually long Tass despatch from London dated May 3 quoting an [Page 411] article which appeared in the London News Chronicle entitled “What Is Happening in China?”. The principal points of the article are as follows:

1.
The liberal elements in Chungking have been forced into the background. Soong has lost his position of director of the Chinese bank and may be removed from the Bureau of Military Supplies and the Foreign Office. The present Minister of War is strongly anti-Chinese Communist and would have undertaken an offensive against them had it not been for the moderating influence of Chiang Kai-shek.
2.
The Kuomintang Army, even with its limited resources, is not carrying on as energetic or effective a struggle against the Japanese as is possible. If this army were united and if it cooperated with the Chinese Communists, the Japanese forces in China would be in a serious position. Instead it is using half its forces to blockade the Communists.
3.
The Communists are ready to support Chiang Kai-shek now and after the war if he will legalize the minor parties in China, change his relations vis-à-vis the Communists, lift the blockade and furnish them supplies. The Communist administration is the healthiest in China. It is really putting democracy into effect and had guaranteed freedom of the press and of assembly. The Communist armies are militarily more capable than the Kuomintang forces and it is only natural that they do not wish to be placed under the command of unqualified officers appointed by the Kuomintang War Ministry, which distributes military posts on the basis of political considerations, not military merits.
4.
The Americans are doing everything possible under the difficult situation. They have established fine military schools and are furnishing first-class war materials. The most efficient military units in China are those of the united Chinese-American Air Command under General Chennault.
5.
The Chinese people deserve all possible assistance. But should the Allies help them or the Kuomintang Fascists? If the reactionary tendencies of Chungking continue to develop, there may spring up something very close to a Fascist dictatorship which will use the weapons received thru lend-lease to keep down the attempts of the people to liberate themselves from dictatorship. The Chinese need a great deal of help from the Allies, but they must use this help rightly. A free democratic China would be an unconquerable force, while at the same time a Fascist China may in time become no less dangerous than an imperialistic Japan.
6.
“In China there exists no freedom of the press, freedom of speech or freedom of assembly. No one has the right to express any opinion which does not correspond with the Government line. There are many men and women who have liberal views but they are forced to keep silent for they wish to live.”

Sent Department; repeated Chungking.

Hamilton