Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
Minutes of Meeting Between General Marshall and General Yu Ta-wei at No. 5 Ning Hai Road, Nanking, July 18, 1946, 11:30 a.m.
| Also present: | Colonel Caughey |
General Yu Ta Wei presented situation maps concerning the fighting in Kiangsu Province north of the Yellow River and in the Wen-hsi area, Shensi Province. General Marshall showed Yu Ta Wei a map prepared by the Communist delegation regarding the situation in Kiangsu Province.
General Marshall then informed General Yu Ta Wei that the reason he wished to meet him was to show him an order44 given to him by General Chou En Lai. This order, according to General Chou, was supposed to have been captured by Communist forces in Kiangsu Province and contains General Tang En Po’s operational order for a general attack on the Communist forces in northern Kiangsu Province on July 15. General Marshall stated that this order could have come into being three different ways. It could have been issued by General Tang; the Communists could have fabricated the whole thing; or the Communists could have altered a normal preparatory order, several of which no doubt would have been prepared by General Tang En Po’s headquarters as were precautionary arrangements.
General Marshall mentioned that other occurrences charged to the National Government which were very embarrassing. The recent assassination of two Democratic League members in Kunming necessitated the American Consul in Kunming to afford refuge in the Consulate to others who feared assassination. This is a serious matter since an American Consul, by regulations, is forbidden to offer refuge to political persons. However, it appeared to the Consul that, under the circumstances, he could do no less than give protection to the individuals concerned. General Marshall also indicated that he had been provided with a list of the persons to be assassinated, the location where the assassinations were to take place and the alleged individual who would be responsible for the assassinations.
[Page 1384]General Marshall told General Yu Ta Wei that negotiations could not be conducted in an atmosphere of this nature.
- “Battle Order No. 1 of the 1st Pacification Headquarters”, not printed.↩