Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
Minutes of Meeting Between General Marshall and General Yu Ta-wei at No. 5 Ning Hai Road, Nanking, September 19, 1946, 10 a.m.
| Also present: | Colonel Caughey |
General Yu Ta Wei said that Mr. Liao,77 Communist spokesman, had stated that General Chou would not come back to Nanking until the Committee of Three met. General Marshall stated that he had been informed of this same thing by General Chou in a personal letter from General Chou.
General Yu asked General Marshall about his meetings with the Generalissimo in Kuling last weekend. General Marshall stated that while he was in Kuling, Doctor Stuart talked to the Government representatives of the informal Five Man Committee with reference to the veto power in the State Council. Dr. Stuart then referred the matter to General Marshall in Kuling since the Government representatives had told Doctor Stuart that as they were under strict instructions [Page 207] by the Generalissimo, they were not to negotiate regarding these questions. General Marshall stated that the Generalissimo had said, when he was informed of this, that he had no objection to “membership” and “veto” questions concerning the State Council being discussed by his representatives on the Five Man Committee, providing that discussion took place in formal meetings and not informally as had been attempted through Dr. Stuart by Chou En Lai.
General Marshall then stated that it was his opinion that Communists wanted to avoid meeting with the Five Man Committee so that they could not later be accused of obstructing efforts to reorganize the government if the Five Man Committee made no progress. On the other hand they are anxious to participate in the Committee of Three in order that hostilities will first be terminated by virtue of which they are more likely to be assured of a satisfactory State Council organization. General Marshall continued by stating that he believed the Communists, by this attitude, are manoeuvering themselves into a bad position since in the meantime Government forces are making substantial advances in Jehol and North Kiangsu Provinces. In other words, the Communists may soon find themselves in a position of having actually accepted the Generalissimo’s five conditions by losses in campaigns.
General Marshall asked General Yu Ta Wei what was the military situation along the Tsingtao–Tsinan railroad. General Yu Ta Wei said that only 80 kilometers, extending westward from Kaomi, are now in the hands of the Communists. He continued by stating that in North Kiangsu Government forces had now captured Suchien, Huaiyin, and [were] in a favorable position for the early capture of Tungtai; in Shansi Province the Communists still had the upper hand; Government forces have completed the occupation of Chengteh in Jehol Province and were mopping up in that province to the south.
General Yu Ta Wei stated that he had seen an account in the Shanghai papers which indicated that the United States intended to suspend delivery of surplus property and added that he did not believe it. General Marshall replied that he knew nothing of such a procedure and was sure that if the news item originated in China that they were not founded on fact; he added that this was probably another case of the Communists beginning to believe their own propaganda. While on this subject, General Marshall pointed out that much of Minister Peng’s press announcements were so provocative as to appear in bad taste, particularly as those statements might affect the outside world.
Returning to his discussions with the Generalissimo over the weekend, General Marshall said that the Generalissimo very frankly stated that conclusion of the “termination of hostilities” agreements was his [Page 208] last trump card in forcing the Communists to designate their delegates for the National Assembly. Since the Communists consider this as a sixth condition to the five already announced by the Generalissimo, they are using the same argument to press for the more immediate issue, as they see it, of getting the fighting stopped. General Marshall pointed out that it was a game where the Communists are pressing for a cessation of hostilities to free their hands for the political negotiations while the Generalissimo is trading on the continuance of hostilities to insure a full delegation for the National Assembly.
General Yu Ta Wei mentioned that Doctor Soong had told him that delivery of certain Lend Lease air force equipment earmarked for China had been suspended. General Yu Ta Wei said he told Doctor T. V. Soong that there was no hope of getting this equipment except possibly a few spare parts. In this connection, General Yu Ta Wei asked General Marshall about the refusal of the State Department to grant export license for 7.92 ammunition. General Marshall stated that he had confirmed that the announced policy had been issued on a high level (whereas General Yu Ta Wei had previously indicated the belief that it was a low level decision). General Marshall added that he was investigating the status of the 7.92 ammunition since there was some question raised as to its availability in the United States.
General Yu Ta Wei terminated the meeting by stating that Doctor Soong told him the Generalissimo would probably not be back to Nanking until the end of the month and that in the meantime there was nothing he could do for General Marshall.
- Liao Cheng-chih, member of the Chinese Communist Party delegation office at Nanking.↩