893.00/3–2045
Report by the Second Secretary of Embassy in China (Service)70
Summary: Captured documents in the hands of the Communists and free statements to a foreign observer by a captured General of Yen Hsi-shan’s71 Army are conclusive proof that Yen has relations with [Page 294] the Japanese which are undoubtedly known to the Central Government. End of Summary.
[Here follows a detailed account of General Yen’s alleged activities.]
It may be considered that I have given undue attention to a sideshow of the situation in China. The incidents described are indeed minor. But they are typical and the aspect of the situation which they reflect is fundamental. In the particular instance, they are so well documented that they cannot be ignored. And Yen Hsi-shan’s position is so obvious that even the most charitable minded cannot assume that Chungking does not know of the situation.
It is by knowledge of this type of attitude shown by Yen, and of Chungking’s complicity in it, that we can better understand the basic issues in China and the fact that the internal struggle for power has precedence over the defeat of the foreign enemy.