893.711/179
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 12.]
Sir: Referring to the Embassy’s despatch no. 2500 of April 26, 1944, in regard to the Chinese censorship, I have the honor to enclose a copy of a memorandum, dated May 26, 1944,63 of my conversation with Dr. K. C. Wu, Political Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, regarding foreign criticism of the Chinese censorship.
Summary of Memorandum, Referring to recent foreign criticism of censorship in China, Dr. Wu commented that censorship in other countries, particularly in Soviet Russia, was more severe than that in China and stated that he could not understand why the foreign press should be “picking on China” in this connection. I explained to Dr. Wu that I had been impressed in the American press criticism of China reaching me, by the underlying expression of friendliness, goodwill and faith in China, which represented the true attitude of the United States and its people toward China and the Chinese people. I informed him that I had shared the apprehension of numbers of Chinese in this country who had expressed to me their fears of the American reaction when they learned that they were getting a censored picture of conditions in China. As Dr. Wu persisted in referring to the Soviet censorship, I reminded him that the American people had long been aware of the severity of Soviet censorship and were consequently inclined to question all news from that country; an attitude which would likely endure for some time. With regard to China, however, it was only recently that the American people had become conscious of the limited picture they were being given of China because of strict censorship and the American reaction was a reaction natural to people accustomed to freedom of the press. If China desired to retain the fundamental attitude of friendliness and helpfulness felt by the American people toward China, there should be no fear of having the American people know the whole picture. End of Summary.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩