Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
Minutes of Conference Between General Chou En-lai and Lieutenant General Alvan C. Gillem, Jr., at House 28, Chungking, April 9, 1946, 3 p.m.
General Chou opened the meeting by stating that General Chen Cheng had called on him yesterday and discussed two points. The first point was with reference to the restoration of communications in North China. General Chou stated that General Chen Cheng had expressed the opinion that the best way to resolve this matter would be to begin immediately the reorganization of the army plans. General Chou stated that while he had no objection to this idea he was of the opinion that it would not resolve the immediate problem which is facing us at this moment. The second point was with reference to the Manchurian problem. General Chou stated that his view was [Page 751] that since teams are already in the critical areas and that therefore hostilities will cease, it would soon be possible to discuss the various matters connected with the critical situation there. General Chou stated that General Chen indicated that he couldn’t accept this position since the situation in Manchuria was so critical. General Chou had then stated that the Committee of Three should immediately proceed to Mukden to obtain first hand information on the ground and bring back to Chungking the various problems for discussion. General Chen had indicated his approval of this idea but stated that due to his illness a substitute would probably have to be provided.
General Gillem then informed General Chou that in respect to these two problems he considered the Manchurian problem paramount; that in this connection he had a draft3 prepared which he would submit at the 4 o’clock meeting today which draft involved concessions on both sides and which he hoped could be accepted as a means to stop the bloodshed in Manchuria.
General Chou agreed in this principle since, as he said, this spirit was identical to his own when he had signed the original agreement.
General Gillem added that his proposal takes into account the new situation in Manchuria regardless of how and why that situation developed.
- Apparently General Gillem’s fourth draft, infra.↩