893.00/12–1846: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 18—7:40 a.m.]
2126. During the past week the National Assembly has continued in committee session, discussing article by article the provisions of the 151 articles of the Constitution. During these meetings a large number of amendments and revisions have been proposed of which a few met with approval. Principal changes approved were transfer of the capital to Peiping, rewording of the preamble in order to lay greater stress on China as a San Min Chu I republic, elimination of United Nations Charter as a constitutional basis of Chinese foreign policy and certain provisions designed to alter the scope and character of local government representation in the National Government.
All during this period, the available evidence indicated strenuous efforts by the CC clique to make every fundamental change in the draft by reverting to the May 5 draft. On December 15 the Generalissimo stated privately that he was having serious trouble with the CC clique, but that he thought he could, in the end, keep them under control by the use of sufficient pressure. On the 15th the Examination Committee concluded their work and referred their reports to the Steering Committee and yet some indication of how significant the Examination Committee work has been and of the actual extent of effective Knit control of the final outcome may be found in the December 16 session of the Steering Committee which quietly, unanimously, and without argument, under the eyes of the Generalissimo, proceeded to veto every change made by the Examination Committee except one technical amendment on wording of the article involving amendment. Hence the draft will be referred to a plenary session on December 18 in the same form as it was proposed by the Government.
At the weekly memorial meeting, the Generalissimo is reported to have informed the Kmt that they were to support the Constitution as he had proposed it, without any nonsense, and that it would be enforced 6 months after the final session of the present assembly.
[Page 641]Reports indicate that in the military situation the Communists have suddenly become more active and are attacking in a number of widely separated areas. There is no evidence that this is a coordinated and concerted drive but rather that the Communists expect government offensive action before long and are merely making more difficult the mounting of any offensive by constant harassing actions, particularly against rail lines. Chou En-lai on December 12, anniversary of the Sian incident,33 delivered a speech in Yenan (ReEmbtel 2116, December 1734) which unequivocally repeated Communist terms on which they would resume negotiations, namely, dissolution of the assembly and the reversion to January 13 military status quo, and attacked the Government and the Generalissimo in such strong terms that the only possible interpretation now must be that the Communists have not the faintest intention of accepting any compromise solution. It is all the more significant that Chou should have made this speech since he has tended to be more conciliatory than other party leaders.
- For detention of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek at Sian, see Foreign Relations, 1936, vol. iv, pp. 414–455, passim.↩
- Not printed.↩