PSA China White Book, Lot 565
Memorandum by the Second Secretary of Embassy in China (Davies) to the Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Vincent)66
Conversation with Major General Hurley
The Ambassador67 has doubtless given you information up to the time of his departure regarding the negotiations between the Generalissimo [Page 693] and the Chinese Communists, represented by General Chou En-lai. These negotiations are being conducted through General Hurley, who is acting as mediator.
Yesterday General Hurley brought me up to date on developments connected with the negotiations. General Hurley stated that the Chinese Government desires that the conversations be kept secret as they are placed in an embarrassing position by the Communists, rather than they, having made definite proposals for a solution of the present impasse. He said that the proposals (the general outlines of which I presume the Ambassador has reported) are eminently fair and that if there is a breakdown in the parleys it will be the fault of the Government and not the Communists.
The General stated that he believed the Generalissimo was willing to reach an understanding but that the Generalissimo’s wishes were being sabotaged by the men around him. He said that he had told the Generalissimo that he (Hurley) was being told one thing by Chiang and another thing by his subordinates.
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One of the conditions which he and the Generalissimo agreed to in connection with the removal of General Stilwell, General Hurley stated, was that the Generalissimo would undertake to reach an agreement with the Communists.
General Hurley stated that the British Ambassador68 had attempted to influence him but that Sir Horace was a clumsy diplomat. The Ambassador, General Hurley believed, had instead revealed clearly British policy in China. Sir Horace attempted to dissuade the General from working to bring the Government and the Communists together. He tried to impress upon General Hurley the desirability of China remaining divided, pointing out that for centuries China had been divided and gotten along well enough.
In general, Hurley viewed the negotiations with guarded optimism.