893.00/15371
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
The Chinese Ambassador called at his request. He said that the spirit of unity and of support of the Allied cause was good in China. He did not mean by that, he said, that it was at all what would be desired but that it could be much worse. I expressed keen interest in this phase and said that, if that spirit could be preserved, it would be invaluable to China and to the Allied nations in the future and I expressed the earnest hope that Chinese statesmen would use every effort to this end. He said that T. V. Soong would remain in China at least for the present—that he had a large amount of work to do there. In response to an inquiry he said that the health of the Generalissimo and Madam Chiang Kai-shek was good, as was also that of Dr. H. H. Kung and T. V. Soong.
The Ambassador spoke at some length about the inflation situation in China and said that it was terrible, that commodities had become extremely scarce, with the result that prices in Chinese money had gone almost completely out of sight. He added, however, that they would find some way to get through.
The Ambassador then spoke about the Russian situation as it related to the recent termination of the concessions which had been granted by Russia to Japan with respect to oil fields in Sakhalin. He said this was a sign that Russia was extending to the Orient her political plays, such as she has been indicating in the West, and that the effect was to release some four divisions of Japanese troops to go back in China and fight the Allies. He seemed to be concerned about the possible movements of Russia in the Far East in the future. This included special emphasis by him to the Communistic side of the situation. He then inquired about what I thought about the Russian situation. I repeated to him about what I have been saying in speeches and public statements. I said it will take time and patience with each other for the important nations like China, Russia, the United States and Great Britain to work close enough together to furnish the necessary leadership for the post-war world, that when one makes a mistake we must patiently seek to persuade it to change its attitude for the sake of teamwork and cooperation, and that some country will be making a mistake from time to time but the reason is all the stronger for patience and earnest persuasion against future mistakes. I said [Page 64] if this policy of talking out difficulties and misunderstandings and finding effective ways to carry forward the movement of international cooperation fails, our efforts will be in vain. He said he fully appreciated and approved this view. He said his Government was greatly pleased to find that the President and I are still taking care of China in our speeches and utterances.