893.00/10–1746

The Ambassador in China ( Stuart ) to the Secretary of State

1681. Minister of Information October 10 [16?] issued following statement:

“On Monday76 Dr. Sun Fo put forward a suggestion calling for the convocation simultaneously of the unofficial Group of Five, the Committee of Three and the Draft Constitution Committee in order to solve such problems as cessation of hostilities, reorganization of the army, reorganization of the national government and completion of the revision of the draft constitution.

Dr. Sun Fo further suggested that some of the conclusions reached in the above-mentioned committees should be reported to the Steering Committee of the Political Consultative Conference for deliberation and adoption.

To this suggestion the Government and PCC delegates in Shanghai have all expressed their favorable reaction. Exchange of opinion is taking place although the Communist delegates have not as yet broken their silence.

The convocation of the Committee of Three was requested by the Chinese Communist Party and agreed upon by the Government long before the recovery of Kalgan. The Government has been and still is anxious about cessation of hostilities. For its realization, however, concrete and adequate measures must be decided upon so that the fighting along the extended fronts may be effectively stopped and that the intermittent fighting may not occur again. For this reason the mere unilateral ‘cease fire’ order cannot be expected to give the desired result. These problems should be decided and solved by the Committee of Three.

We are still looking forward to the coming to the capital of the Communist and other delegates for the resumption of the peace talks.

[Page 379]

We must not attach too much importance to the capture or loss of a few cities. The whole territory of China should come under the jurisdiction of the Central Government. On the other hand, the Communists are invited to participate in the Central Government. Therefore, the changing of hands of a few cities should in no way be regarded as a gain to the government or a loss to the Communists.”

Following Generalissimo’s statement October 16,77 Dr. Sun Fo said that statement must not be taken as a new Government demand on Communists and that eight conditions in the statement are pre-ponderently aimed at securing nationwide peace at an early date. Sun added that Government [offer?] of further concessions despite recapture of Kalgan is evident peaceful intention.

Stuart
  1. October 14.
  2. Supra.