Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1944, China, Volume VI

893.20211/15

Memorandum Prepared for the Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Vincent)³⁷

[Washington,] 29 April, 1944.

1. The large influx of Chinese citizens into the United States during the past three or four years has been the subject of considerable interest on the part of some American intelligence officers.

2. In spite of the fact that virtually no investigations have been made of Chinese activities in this country, it is known that at least two types of undesirable Chinese are in this country:

(a) Chinese who have acted as Japanese agents in the past and may be continuing to do so.

(b) Chinese who appear to be carrying on economic and political intelligence with an anti-American bias which may be both personal and official.

3. One of the most provocative elements of Chinese immigration is the group of “police officers” who are entering the travel stream. Eight such “officers” are believed now to be enroute to the United States. Confidential informants report they believe the so-called police officers may be classed in the second type of undesirable Chinese coming to America.

4. The group travels on official Chinese Government passports and is described as part of the Central Police Academy.

5. A reliable American official has ventured the opinion that the Central Police Academy in China is an organ of the notorious General Tai Li, director of the Central Investigation and Statistics Bureau in Generalissimo Chiang’s personal headquarters. General Tai is reputed to be the chief of a political espionage and counter-espionage group, the operations and tactics of which are said to parallel those of the vicious and repulsive Sicherheitsdienst in Germany. Tai personally has been described by some observers as a political assassin who personally is anti-foreign (for our purposes, anti-American) and politically reactionary. He is an advocate of stringent “thought control” and is believed to wield his organization, which allegedly totals 300,000 agents, in an anti-democratic, anti-American direction.

6. The presence of his agents in this country, therefore, might be considered extremely undesirable, whether the agents come for alleged police training or for any other purpose. Surely, many American people and perhaps members of Congress would protest if the presence in the United States of General Tai’s agents should become known.

7. The officers from the Central Police Academy are described as: [Here follows list of eight persons.]

8. The foregoing information is forwarded for your attention.

37. Copy transmitted to the Ambassador in China by the Secretary of State in instruction No. 641, May 13. The instruction stated that the memorandum had been received from a confidential source and that the Department had no further information in regard to the police officers in question or their proposed activities in the United States.