893.00/10–3046
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 30—9 a.m.]
1769. Following is refutation by Communist spokesman [at] Nanking, published October 28, of Dr. Sun Fo’s recent statement regarding six point difference in Communist and Central Govt peace negotiations (See Embtel 1759, October 30):
“In a statement released yesterday evening, the spokesman of the Communist Delegation in Nanking refuted Dr. Sun Fo’s recent statement and outlined the Communist position vis-à-vis the Antung incident. The text of the statement reads as follows:
- 1.
- In his interview with the Central News, chief government representative Dr. Sun Fo said that government troops only ‘took over’ Antung and [had] not attacked and occupied it. If that were true, Government troops could, under the pretext of ‘taking over’, continue to wage the civil war not only in Manchuria but also in China proper. It is something regrettable that word of this kind should have escaped from the mouth of Dr. Sun who used to advocate peace. It has, however, fully exposed the intention of the Government.
- 2.
- In another statement, Dr. Sun Fo insisted that peace negotiations should be conducted on the basis laid down by President Chiang in his eight point proposal. From this, it is evident that the government has slighted the peace efforts which the third parties exerted for the past week. Besides, Dr. Sun also made many mistakes in his explanation of the eight points.
- 3.
- Dr. Sun said that the discussions on ‘local government are to be limited to China proper. [’] This not only clearly points out that Manchuria will be excluded, but also indicates that Chinese Communists will be forced to agree to the illegal seizure of territories by government troops and the destruction of local democratic administration [Page 450] in them. The government has once more refused to recognize the existence of anti-Japanese forces led by Chinese Communists on Hainan Island. Dr. Sun held that the Executive Yuan should not be reorganized before the convention of the National Assembly, yet he insisted that various parties should submit the name lists of their delegates to the National Assembly before a cessation of hostilities. These are violations of the resolutions passed at the political consultation conference.
In summing up the above points, there are ample evidences—government insistence on the eight point proposal in which Chinese Communists do not concur, the occupation of Antung, and the continuation of the civil war during the peace negotiations—that the government has not the slightest sincerity [in] peace talks, and that its peace offensive is but a fake.”