Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
General Marshall’s Notes of a Meeting With Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek at Kuling, August 19, 1946
I had a final meeting with the Generalissimo before my departure from Kuling though I had nothing new in effect to tell him. He restated his view of the situation and said that he was willing to go ahead with the action proposed toward the formation of the State Council, but he did not wish the committee headed by Dr. Stuart to take up any other matters involved in the PCC agreements. He stated also that he did not agree to a cessation of the fighting until agreement had been reached regarding the State Council and that I must understand that this was a great concession on the part of the Government and they were taking a decided risk in so doing.
I said that I did not wish to restate my views with which the Generalissimo was familiar, but I did very briefly summarize them and I also expressed my failure to understand what the added risk to the government was in agreeing to a cessation of hostilities. To my view it was exactly the contrary and I thought every day of delay further endangered the government forces.
[Page 57]In general, we agreed to disagree and the Generalissimo closed by stating that he realized that my efforts were all in the interest of China and that I should feel free to come to him at any time and state my views with complete frankness.
The following morning, General Yu Ta Wei came to me to resume the discussions of the previous afternoon—he having acted as interpreter—following a discussion he had just had with the Generalissimo, He was particularly insistent that nothing should be said in my approach to the Communists which would give the impression that the Generalissimo had proposed the effort we were about to make for the creation of the State Council and particularly that while there should be no discussion of other matters by this special group, the fact of such prohibition by the Generalissimo should not be made known. Otherwise there would be the inevitable Communistic propaganda that he (the Generalissimo) was refuting the agreements of the PCC. The Generalissimo, General Yu stated, was prepared to go through with the agreements of the PCC at the present time.