740.0011 PW/4–745
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Vincent)97
The April 5 issue of Trud, Soviet trade union daily, carries an article on the political situation in China which criticizes the Kuomintang and praises the “Communists”. This article, like others which have appeared in the Soviet press, illustrates the trend toward a more active Soviet interest in the internal affairs of China.
The following excerpts are the highlights of the article (as reported by the Embassy in Moscow’s no. 1077, April 798):
“…99 the troops of the Eighth and new Fourth (Communist) armies together with Peoples Partisan Forces, which the Government does not wish to recognize, for the eighth year are holding high the banner of the National Liberation war.…
“… a series of European countries who have been and are being liberated from the German Fascist occupiers, are giving to China lessons on how a true consolidation of national and many national forces on the basis of democracy can be attained.…
“It is impossible to ignore the fact that after the Crimea Conference and on the eve of the conference in San Francisco, the Chinese Government has occupied an openly hostile position in relation to the political forces standing in opposition to the Kuomintang, and is gradually passing to methods of direct suppression of them.
“(Chiang’s March 1 speech) means in actuality the beginning of a new campaign against democratic forces, and whatever may be the calculations of its initiators, this campaign promises only new woes for China.”