893.00/10–944
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 13.]
Sir: Referring to the Embassy’s telegram 1451, August 24, 1 p.m., and previous correspondence in regard to reported Kazak depredations in Sinkiang Province, I have the honor to report below further information on this subject which has been received from the Consul at Tihwa in an airgram dated September 23, 1944.
The Consul reports that on September 23, 1944 he was informed by the Special Delegate of the Chinese Foreign Office in Sinkiang that on August 31, 1944 about 30 Kazaks drove off 300 horses from the neighborhood of Wushihshui, which is situated about 90 kilometers east of Tacheng and 10 kilometers from the Russian border; that the Kazaks were stopped by Chinese border guards who opened fire at a point about three or four kilometers from the Russian border; that the Kazaks returned the fire of the Chinese border guards; that Soviet border guards penetrated more than one kilometer into Chinese territory to join the Kazaks and assist them in fighting their way around the Chinese border guards; that the Soviet border guards participated in the firing on Chinese border guards; that the Soviet border guards and the Kazaks, after a running fight with the Chinese [Page 815] border guards, made off with the horses; and that four of the Chinese border guards were injured during the course of the clash.
The Consul further reports that the Special Delegate informed him that the village of Kung Ha, situated in the mountains 120 kilometers east of Ining, had been under siege by a party of 60 Kazaks since September 17, 1944.
Mr. Smith reports that he has questioned the Special Delegate on several occasions in regard to the veracity of the charges of active Soviet participation in Kazak activities in western Sinkiang in July and August of this year, and that the latter has twice assured Mr. Smith that he has checked the evidence carefully and is convinced of the reliability of the accounts of Soviet participation. According to Mr. Smith, the Special Delegate expressed the view that the new incidents related above “are a new nerve war to cause the dismissal of the remaining border magistrates of the old regime”.
It is reported in Chungking that Mr. Smith’s informant, Mr. Chaucer Wu, is being recalled to the Foreign Office in Chungking and that he is to be succeeded in Tihwa by Mr. Liu Tse-jung, former Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Moscow. This transfer is generally regarded as a further move on the part of the Chinese authorities to appoint officials to Sinkiang who are persona grata with the Russians.
Respectfully yours,