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  4. Document 36

Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270

Minutes of Meeting Between General Marshall and General Shang Chen,91 at House 28, Chungking, January 21, 1946, 10 a.m.

Chungking, January 21, 1946, 10 a.m.
Also present: Col. Caughey92
Col. Pee93

General Shang opened the meeting by stating that the Generalissimo had sent him to express to General Marshall various thoughts on the current political situation:

1.
The PPC is not making satisfactory progress. The Communist and Democratic front are holding out to a degree that will prevent closing the meeting in two days as planned. This situation may improve in the next few days and after which the Generalissimo desires to talk to you with reference to the PPC. The Generalissimo wants to know if you have any comment.
2.
The Russian attitude in Manchuria94 is not good.
3.
The Generalissimo desires to see you in his Town House at 1100 on 22 January.

With reference to the first item you indicated that you had been awaiting notice from the Military Sub-Committee with regard to reorganization of the armies prior to offering any advice. You stated that you wanted the Generalissimo to know that you were not standing on ceremony but merely wished to know where and when the Military Sub-Committee desired to see you.95

With reference to the second item you asked if the attitude was due to failure of Russian withdrawal or was it due to participation of operational hostilities. General Shang replied that it was the latter; that Nationalist troops had been surrounded (he did not state by whom) at Yingkow and that Russians had killed a few (2) Nationalist troops.

With reference to the third item you stated that you would see the Generalissimo at 1100 at his Town House on the 22nd.

J. Hart Caughey
  1. Personal Chief of Staff to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.↩
  2. Col. J. Hart Caughey, Executive Officer on General Marshall’s staff.↩
  3. Col. Peter Pee, Personal Aide to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.↩
  4. For correspondence on Manchuria, see pp. 712 ff.↩
  5. For correspondence on negotiations respecting military reorganization, see p. 177.↩