893.00/7–644
The Consul at Kweilin (Ringwalt) to the Ambassador in China (Gauss)94
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a memorandum95 of my recent conversation with Marshal Li Chi-shen, former Chairman of [Page 467] the Kweilin Office of the Central Military Affairs Commission, and, since December, 1943, in retirement. Marshal Li, as indicated in previous reports from this office, is sponsoring the establishment in south China of a regime which would be democratic in character and largely independent of the Central Government.
Summary of Memorandum: The unity of all sections of the Chinese people, so much in evidence during the early days of the war, has been destroyed as a result of the increasingly dictatorial tendencies of the ruling clique in Chungking. Because of widespread mismanagement, corruption and oppression, the livelihood of the people has suffered, and their will to resist has disappeared to the extent that they even welcome the coming of enemy forces. Chinese troops are poorly equipped, under-nourished, and badly led. The country is rife with sectionalism, and the Central Government in desperation has even resorted to sabotage in its efforts to destroy those leaders whose loyalty to the ruling clique it questions. The campaigns in Honan and Hunan have revealed the extent to which the national morale has become bankrupt. It is only through popular education and democratic principles that the vitality of China’s vast man-power can be reestablished and the popular will to resist can be restored. It is planned to set up an autonomous regime in Papu, Kwangsi, which will foster democratic principles and which it is hoped will serve as a nucleus for a new democratic movement in China. End of Summary.
Perhaps the most serious charge made by Marshal Li against the Central Government is that of deliberate sabotage. Admittedly, in voicing this charge he is prejudiced and has offered no documentary evidence to substantiate his statements. Nevertheless, his views are widely shared by certain highly placed officers attached to Headquarters, Z Force, whose efforts to lend concrete assistance have been blocked at almost every turn by the Central Government official in charge of the troop training program here. Whether his obstructive attitude is colored by stupidity, jealousy, or prejudice, or a combination of these factors, is not clearly understood.
Marshal Pai Tsung-hsi arrived in Kweilin recently to assume charge of the defense of Kwangsi. Largely through his efforts, the Kwangsi Provincial Government for the most part has remained in the Chungking camp, and has decided, if and when necessary, to remove from Kweilin to Ishan, on the railway west of Liuchow, and, if that city is threatened, to the mountains to the north of Ishan. That Marshal Pai himself has little confidence of his ability to hold Kweilin is evidenced by the fact that his entire family has removed from Kweilin for the west, taking with them several freight-car loads of personal effects. Marshal Pai is regarded by local dissident elements as something of a “stooge” for the Generalissimo, and his prestige, in their eyes at least, has declined to the vanishing point. In this connection, the following incident may be of interest: At a recent formal dinner given [Page 468] by this Consulate for Marshal Pai and Major General Chennault, the former delivered himself of a long-winded address, the general tenor of which was that China would continue to resist the aggressor to the last man. Marshal Li followed with a brief and forthright statement directed pointedly at Marshal Pai to the effect that popular will to resist could only be restored after the introduction into China of democratic principles. Those guests who had little knowledge of the political situation in Kwangsi, or even of the sense of the addresses of the two military leaders could not fail to be aware of the heightened tension in the banquet hall.
Respectfully yours,