893.24/1714
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 12.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose a copy of a memorandum of May 5, 1944,79 written by Second Secretary John S. Service on detail to General Stilwell’s staff, in regard to the attitude of General Ho Ying-chin, Chief of Staff and Minister of War, toward American military aid to China.
Summary of Memorandum. During a meeting of the Standing Committee of the People’s Political Council several weeks ago, General Ho stated that American military aid to China has so far been very slight as most of the supplies transported by plane from India go to the U. S. 14th Air Force and to General Stilwell’s forces, the Chinese receiving very little and that being for the most part communications and medical supplies. American aid to China is given on a very different basis from that to Russia. The Soviet Union presents a list of her needs to the American authorities and materials are turned over to the Russians without conditions. Americans wish to decide Chinese needs, to train Chinese troops and to control Chinese armies through liaison officers. End of Summary.
The question of American assistance to China is one on which even the usually reasonable Chinese friends of the United States are apt [Page 86] to display an unreasonable attitude. The less friendly and chauvinistic Chinese tend to be insistent in their demands that more American aid be forthcoming and to be critical of the failure of the United States to provide more planes and other war materials. Other examples of this attitude are contained in utterances by the Government spokesmen at the weekly press conferences and in editorial comment by the Chinese press. Dr. P. H. Chang, Counselor of the Executive Yuan acting as Government spokesman at the press conference on May 10, issued a lengthy statement on Allied aid to China, the gist of which was that American training of Chinese troops was of little assistance unless Chinese troops were given the necessary weapons. He added that “our soldiers on the front and our people in the rear have made and are still making immense sacrifices and it is high time that our Allies should call halt to their suffering by helping us to win the war sooner through increased supply of armaments.” Dr. Chang is considered as extremely friendly toward Americans and as an able, intelligent official. Another complaining note is sounded in an editorial in the National Herald of May 22 in which it is stated that “it is also a fact that despite the comparatively large tonnage of war supplies that has recently come into China, the amount actually received by the Chinese army is only a small fraction of the amount received by the other allied forces in China.” Little consideration is given to the difficulties of air transport into China, the difficulties encountered by the American military authorities in obtaining the construction of the necessary airfield facilities and the long inactivity of the American trained and equipped Chinese troops in western Yunnan. Chinese in conversation are apt to be quite frank and outspoken in their appeals for more assistance and are resentful of equally frank replies which call attention to the above-enumerated circumstances.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩