893.00/4–1445: Telegram
The Chargé in China (Briggs) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 152:45 p.m.]
625. 1. According to a news item in the (Communist) Hsin Hua Jih Pao, the Democratic League gave a reception on April 6 for Tung Pi-wu, the Communist delegate to the San Francisco Conference, at which Tung delivered an address along lines as follows:
Since its inauguration in 1940 the Democratic League has made a lasting impression on the people of China and has played an important role in the democratic revolution. Yenan8 welcomes the growth of the League, as the League and the Communist Party have an identical objective—the realization of democratic union in China in order to facilitate success in the war of existence and national reconstruction. Today the country is under the domination of a single party, and other parties and factions have no legal basis. Let all representatives of the various political parties and factions unite in order to obtain our common objectives through the establishment of a provisional coalition government to be followed by the formation of a genuine coalition government composed of popularly elected delegates.
Under a democratic coalition government, popular rights and liberties can be realized and China can mobilize for the war effort her potential strength and usefulness. Only through such means can we [Page 333] comply with the demands of the nation as a whole and take our rightful place in the family of nations. Otherwise at the time of, or even before, the successful conclusion of the war of resistance, civil war may be unavoidable.
The Communist Party has delegated me to represent my hundred million comrades at San Francisco in order to make known our opinions to the family of nations. Moreover, I hope to coordinate my efforts there with those of Mr. Li Huang and Mr. Carson Chang (the two delegates to the conference representing the Democratic League). I am confident that through our united efforts a democratic China can be realized. Otherwise there will be no permanent peace of [or] freedom for the people of China or for the people of world. (End of Summary)
2. Mr. Tung’s address was followed by speeches of a similar tenor by prominent members of the Democratic League and other independent groups, including industrialists, educators and farmers, all of whom called for a united front at San Francisco in opposition to the Kuomintang representatives. It was recommended that the “people’s delegates” (that is to say, Carson Chang, Li Huang and Tung Pi-wu) take advantage of their presence at San Francisco to acquaint the outside world with present conditions in China and to obtain their sympathy.
Three members of the Democratic League who attended the meeting have informed the Embassy that the above account is substantially correct. They feel, and the Embassy concurs, that the meeting was an event of considerable importance as indicating that the Communist Party is now prepared to accept the cooperation of the Democratic League in opposition to the Kuomintang, not only at San Francisco but in the future political life of China.
- Yenan, Shensi, location of the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party.↩