Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
Minutes of Meeting Between General Marshall and General Chang Chun, at House 28, Chungking, January 24, 1946, 11 a.m.
| Also present: | Col. Caughey |
| Col. Pee | |
| Mr. Shepley69 |
. . . . . . .
General Chang then stated that the PCC was not making satisfactory progress but that he hoped within the next three days agreements [Page 197] could be reached. He stated that the PCC had organized five sub-committees:
- 1.
- Governmental Reorganization
- 2.
- Policy of Administration
- 3.
- Military Affairs
- 4.
- National Convention
- 5.
- Constitution
He indicated that an additional sub-committee had been set up consisting of two members from each party which would discuss the general question of the work of all five committees since this work was closely related.70 With reference to the Military Affairs Committee, on which General Chang sits, General Chang desired to report that the Central Government had proposed a two-point program:
- 1.
- Settle the Army Reorganization in the Military Sub-Committee within one month and carry out the organization within the two months following.
- 2.
- Reorganization of the armed forces through demobilization and deactivation to 90 divisions.
General Chang stated that the Communists had submitted no proposals to the committee but instead had submitted proposals to the Sab-Committee for Policy of Administration which concerned reorganization of the National Military Council to include Communist members. The Youth Party had put in a five-point program consisting of:
- 1.
- Separate the army from the party.
- 2.
- Separate army from politics.
- 3.
- Adopt a system of conscription.
- 4.
- Demobilize and deactivate on large scale; retaining small army.
- 5.
- Set up a Minister of National Defense, abolish the National Military Council, and establish a commission to handle deactivation and demobilization.
General Chang also stated that the Democratic League had proposed a program which included:
- 1.
- A unified nationalized army.
- 2.
- Demobilization on a large scale and that a planning committee be established for the reorganization with every party represented.
General Chang stated that the Military Affairs Committee had already had three sessions. At the first session no agreement was reached. At the second session (General Chou En-lai was absent) they made satisfactory progress and unanimous agreement was reached on the following program: [Page 198]
- 1.
- Separate army from political parties.
- a.
- Forbid political party activities openly or secretly in the army.
- b.
- Education in the army to be independent of political influence.
- c.
- Either dismiss from the army members from political parties or suspend their party relationships during army service.
- d.
- Political party would not use army as instrument to attain political supremacy.
- 2.
- Organization.
- a.
- Officers would not serve in the army and in civil service concurrently.
- b.
- Area jurisdiction would be divided into field commander whose boundaries would not coincide with provincial boundaries.
- c.
- Army officers not to become entangled with civil administration.
- 3.
- Reorganization.
- a.
- Develop in one month a plan to integrate Communist with Nationalist forces and execute plan in the subsequent two months.
- b.
- Six months after actual date of cessation of hostilities to organize into 90 divisions.
- c.
- Possibly reorganize into 50 or 60 divisions the following year.
- d.
- Establish organization under National Military Council for supervising and planning reorganization of the army.
At the third conference General Chou was present and negated the agreement reached by the Communist representative in the second conference. General Chou stated that he could not agree to the program until a new National Military Council had been established with Communist representation; that this would be the only guarantee under which he would entertain further reorganization planning.
General Marshall indicated that the three months period for planning and executing reorganization did not appear realistic. General Marshall then outlined his general concept for reorganization: That the army must be taken out of politics; military commanders cannot hold political positions; that approximately 20 armies should be organized each one reporting directly to the Generalissimo; that service areas should be established which had no connection with command of forces and which would furnish food, clothing, equipment, and shelter to military forces in the area. General Marshall then stated that this should be accomplished through gradual change and that the first six months would be the most difficult on account of the Communist fears.
Colonel, G. S. C.