Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
Memorandum by General Chou En-lai to General Marshall
At our last conference you informed me of the Government’s desire to have Mr. Chao Chun-man, mayor of Changchun, Mr. Chao’s associates, General Pan Hsuo-tuan, commander of the 184th Division, and a few others released prior to June 30th. After consulting the Communist Commander in Manchuria I now wish to make the following comment:
Mayor Chao Chun-man can be released. However, the Chinese Communist Party also desires that the Government would release Mr. Wang Sheng-tai, secretary of the Mukden Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, prior to June 30th. Mr. Wang, who is a well-known author under the pen-name King Jen, was arrested in Mukden by the Government troops around the middle of April. It is learned that Mr. Wang Sheng-tai was initially detained in the Army prison in Mukden, later on probably transferred to Chinchow. On May 6, we sent a letter to Mr. Shao Li-tse, Government representative of the PCC, requesting him to secure from Generalissimo’s Northeastern Field Headquarters Mr. Wang’s release, yet no reply has been made by that Headquarters insofar.
As to General Pan Hsuo-tuan, commander of the 184th Division, and his subordinate regiment commander, since they had come over to the Communists on their own accord, we have the responsibility to render them protection, and cannot therefore turn them back to the Government.
Your comment on the foregoing would be appreciated.81
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- General Marshall forwarded to Gen. Yu Ta-wei with memorandum OSE 236, June 27, not printed, a copy of this memorandum requesting that “in your subsequent handling of this matter you discuss it direct with General Chou.”↩