123 [Hurley, Patrick J.]

The Appointed Ambassador in China ( Hurley ) to President Chiang Kai-shek 30

Your Excellency: In presenting my credentials as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America together with the letter recalling my predecessor,31 I am instructed by the President to express to Your Excellency his warm personal friendship and the fervent hopes of the American Government and people for the freedom, peace and prosperity of China.

At a time when Japan and her allies were all but succeeding in their schemes of world conquest, America warned in no uncertain terms that America upholds the principles of “inviolability of territorial integrity and sovereignty of each and all nations”, and “noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries”. The unflinching resolution expressed in those words forms at once the basis of our conflict with Japan and of our enduring friendship for China.

China and America both “respect the right of all people to choose the form of Government under which they shall live”. Our two countries are united not only by the mutual observance of lofty standards of international behavior, but also by common ideals of government. It is a source of profound gratification to all Americans that in the Three People’s Principles of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the Father of the Chinese Republic, we find with a different background and philosophic approach the same underlying ideals expressed by a great American at a period when my own country was writhing in the turmoil of civil war. Both during and after the war America and China will be held closely together by the common democratic objectives of “government of the people, by the people and for the people”.

I am entering on my new duties in China at a critical period in her history. After suffering more and longer than any other nation from the effects of total warfare, China fights on and is indomitable. My country remembers how against overwhelming odds China fought virtually alone for long years for the eternal principles of Justice and Freedom. I come as envoy to China with respect and admiration for a valiant people, of whom Your Excellency is the inspired leader. The forces of China and America are attacking the enemy with the splendid unity and precision that comes only when two nations are together because they are fighting for the same just principles. The [Page 30] traditional friendship between our two countries has never been more secure than it is today.

The powerfully armed and relentless invader who sought to subject the peace-loving people of many nations to his will, is now falling back in defeat. There are anxious days and hard battles ahead of us, but the purpose of the enemy to subjugate China has failed. The war is not over but victory over the enemy is certain and out of this holocaust America sees emerging a free, united and democratic China.

In this fateful time I deeply appreciate the honor of representing the President and the Government and people of the United States in China. In the discharge of my duties I bespeak Your Excellency’s support and that of the Chinese Government and people.

[File copy not signed]
  1. Copy transmitted by the Ambassador to former Secretary of State Cordell Hull, in a letter of January 15; received February 1.
  2. Ambassador Clarence E. Gauss resigned November 1, 1944.