Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
Minutes of Meeting Between General Marshall and General Chou En-lai at House 28, Chungking, February 15, 1946, 2 p.m.
| Also present: | Colonel Caughey, |
| Mr. Chang. |
General Chou thanked General Marshall for the opportunity of a short interview and stated that the reason for his visit was to discuss problems relative to Military Police organizations. General Chou evoked concern over these organizations and stated that if there were such organizations, terms should be carefully stipulated in the agreement. General Marshall stated that there would be certain Military Police organizations within the various armies but that these would have no power over civil matters. With reference to the Gendarmes, General Marshall stated that some of the states in the United States did employ a similar organization but mainly for traffic control on the highways. General Marshall then stated that he was undetermined as to how the Gendarme question should be regulated for China and [Page 224] that his present thought was that organizations could be trained by the National Government and allotted to Provincial Governors for use.
General Chou stated that Gendarmes should not interfere with civil life.
General Chou then brought up the fact that he was also concerned about the 18 regiments of railroad guards that were being organized and trained by General Tai Li94 and stated that this was more like an army and asked General Marshall’s view. General Marshall indicated that he saw no objection for one individual to train this organization but he too objected to command of this force by one individual. General Marshall informed General Chou that he was aware of General Tai Li’s activities during the war and added that he felt stipulations would have to [be] imposed on their use.
General Marshall then stated, with reference to Gendarmes and railroad guards, that Section 7 of Article IV might be enlarged to include the terms under which both these organizations would operate.
- Deputy Director of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, Chinese National Commission of Military Affairs.↩