Foreign Relations of the United States, 1946, The Far East: China, Volume X

Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270

Notes on Meeting Between General Marshall and General C. P. Lee at No. 5 Ning Hai Road, Nanking, December 20, 1946, 10 a.m.

Nanking, December 20, 1946, 10 a.m.

Also present:

Captain Soong

General Lee commented that the statement made by President Truman was forceful and informative. General Marshall stated that actually the President’s statement said little that was new and was more a summary of what had taken place during the past year in China. General Marshall told General Lee that a fight is now in progress in the United States between two factions—one hostile to the Kmt of which Mr. Theodore White³⁸ is a leading figure, and the other under the leadership of Mr. Henry Luce and Mr. Roy Howard in favor of the National Government.

General Lee mentioned that without General Marshall’s presence in China, the National Assembly would not have adopted a good constitution. He informed General Marshall that the Generalissimo had scolded Mr. Chen Li-fu, the leader of the reactionary CC Clique, and had brought the Kuomintang rightists into line. He further stated that Dr. Soong fully realized the bad conditions in China and the urgent need of rehabilitation.

General Marshall said that Chen Li-fu actually helped the Generalissimo to put through the PCC constitution in the National Assembly. However, he felt that the CC clique is not defeated by any means. He said that he was interested in steps which might be taken to reorganize the State Council and the Executive Yuan. He feared that in such reorganizations, the Government might try to block the Communists from coming into the Government by offering various positions in the Government to the liberal elements.

General Lee said that the Government should reform itself and then try to eliminate the CC clique; this might open the way for peace negotiations with the Communists in the future. He further suggested that there are two steps the Chinese Government may pursue: 1) To invite a large number of American advisors with experience to install a government system in China and train the necessary personnel. 2) To train a group of professors and scientists for participation in the Government. General Marshall said Dr. Stuart seemed to think along the same line. However, General Marshall felt that such a large group of American advisors in China would arouse much criticism from the Chinese and also from other countries. He pointed out that good budgetary and auditing systems are extremely important and are very difficult to establish. At the present, General Marshall felt that the Chinese Government cannot purify itself unless there is an opposition party. Much of the graft and bribery in the lower levels among the local governments can only be revealed by the searching attacks of an opposing party residing in those localities. General Marshall expressed the opinion that young college men might be trained to be inspectors and brought into the Government by paying them a suitable wage. However, he felt that the idea of a large group of American advisors was impractical. General Marshall then asked General Lee whether the Communists still wanted peace. General Lee replied affirmatively.

38. American journalist and author.