811.42793/1614
The Ambassador in China (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 15.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Embassy’s despatch no. 1819, November 16, 1943,15 transmitting a list16 of Chinese Government regulations governing self-supporting students proceeding abroad for study, and to enclose a translation16 of a news item which appeared in the Ta Kung Pao on February 25, 1944, with regard to the approval by the Ministry of Education and the expected early promulgation of similar regulations governing university professors and instructors who wish to proceed abroad for advance education at their own expense.
Summary. The salient points of the regulations are reported to be as follows: (1) university professors and instructors with five or more years of teaching experience (those in social sciences excepted for the duration) may proceed abroad for study at their own expense without examination by the Ministry of Education; (2) the period of foreign study will be limited to two years; (3) control and direction of the work undertaken by such professors and instructors shall be [Page 1120] exercised by the Superintendent of Students in a fashion similar to that of self-supporting students (Embassy’s reference despatch), and they shall likewise be subject to summary recall if their thoughts, statements or actions are found to be contrary to San Min Chu I. End of Summary.
These regulations, it will be noted, have reference only to professors and instructors who wish to proceed to foreign countries for advanced study at their own expense and will presumably have no direct effect on the selection or subsequent conduct of the professors who are being invited by the Department, under the cultural relations program, to spend a year in the United States. The Embassy views as extremely discouraging, however, the fascist-like tendencies implied in the provisions that professors in the social sciences will not be permitted to proceed abroad at their own expense for the duration of the war and that the “thoughts, statements and actions” of all professors permitted to go abroad for study will be under constant examination by the Ministry of Education representative—with summary recall the penalty for those who do not conform to Kuomintang political ideology.
Respectfully yours,
- Foreign Relations, 1943, China, p. 756.↩
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