893.00/5–3045
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Deputy Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Stanton)
During the course of a conversation this afternoon with Dr. Wu54 he brought up the subject of Kuomintang–Communist relations. Dr. Wu said that this problem was one which seriously concerned President Chiang Kai-shek; that the Generalissimo had shown great forbearance toward the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party; that as a close friend of the Generalissimo he knew that the latter had been willing to make greater concessions to the Communists in order to achieve internal unity than was agreeable to the leaders of the Kuomintang. Dr. Wu referred also to the attitude of Dr. Sun Fo toward the Chinese Communists. He said that Dr. Sun was probably more sympathetically disposed toward the Communists than any other influential member of the Chinese Government, but that Dr. Sun was beginning to believe that no concessions made by the Kuomintang and the Generalissimo to the Communists would satisfy them. In response to a question as to how he thought this problem could be solved Dr. Wu said he did not know but expressed the hope that the existing fundamental differences could be resolved.
It was suggested to Dr. Wu that much could be accomplished by the early establishment of constitutional government, by the carrying out of fiscal and administrative reforms, by relaxation of present stringent censorship, and by the institution of measures designed to safeguard the personal liberties of the people. With respect to constitutional government, Dr. Wu said that he felt certain such a government would be established shortly after the convocation of the National Assembly on November 12, 1945. With reference to the other matters mentioned, he admitted that there was very definite need to effect reforms and to assure to the people freedom of speech and publication and right of habeas corpus. In this general connection Dr. Wu said he was very much impressed by the vigorous criticism of the American Government and its handling of various [Page 397] domestic problems which appeared in the American press from time to time. He felt that such freedom of expression constituted one of the basic and fundamental characteristics of democracy in the United States. Dr. Wu added that it was his intention upon returning to China to give to President Chiang Kai-shek a first-hand account of this important characteristic of the American democratic system.
- Dr. John C. H. Wu, Adviser to the Chinese Delegation to the United Nations Conference on International Organization and member of the Chinese Legislative Yuan.↩