Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
Minutes of Meeting Between Admiral Cooke and General Marshall at No. 5 Ning Hai Road, Nanking, August 22, 1946, 10:30 a.m.
| Also present: | General Pheiffer79 |
| Colonel Caughey | |
| Colonel Litzenberg80 | |
| Lieutenant Colonel Hutchin81 |
The meeting opened with a general discussion of the An Ping incident, during which Admiral Cooke asked General Marshall what course of action he proposed to take. General Marshall replied that he was very anxious to give the investigating team full opportunity of arriving at a solution; that he did not feel free to make a public statement or demand an apology from the Communists at this time since this course of action would not only be seized upon by the National Government to indicate that the Communist Party cannot be dealt with on a reasonable basis but also probably would mean immediate termination of Executive Headquarters.
Admiral Cooke stated that if civil war is to break out in China there are a lot of decisions that have to be made, and prior to that time a lot of planning will have to be done. For instance, will the Marines be expected to maintain the coal train guards, will the Marines be expected to maintain their establishments in Peiping; and will the Marines be expected to maintain transport aircraft for the support of Executive Headquarters activities? General Marshall stated that the coal train guards should first be eliminated. These guards should now be replaced by National Government forces. In this connection General Marshall stated that an additional Chinese Army was being moved to North China from Formosa and that it would be extremely helpful if this army, as well as other troops in North China, were obligated to take over Marine functions. Through this means those troops would then be committed southward and therefore could not be moved into Jehol or Manchuria, thus preventing additional confusion and an additional potential for the National Government to wage civil war.
Admiral Cooke pointed out that there was a hostile attitude growing among Americans toward apparent Soviet ambitions in Europe and Asia. He pointed out that this attitude was very important so far as his local planning is concerned. He cited the possibility of Soviet military activity in Korea. In this event the U. S. forces in Korea [Page 65] might conceivably be withdrawn to China, thus demanding certain Marine dispositions, and a general plan of action. On the other hand U. S. forces may withdraw to Japan, which would call for a different course of action on the part of the Marines. At this juncture General Marshall read to Admiral Cooke a recent Eyes Only message from Colonel Carter82 concerning development of U.S. policy toward Russia.
General Marshall then proceeded to discuss in general the status of the current negotiations, indicating the status of Dr. Stuart’s small group, the attitude on the part of the Generalissimo and on the part of General Chou En Lai toward the continuation of negotiations.
Admiral Cooke reminded General Marshall that he had recently submitted a proposal pointed toward the possible resolution of the civil administration problem by reaching an agreement on the civil administration problem in Shantung Peninsula and using Shantung Province as a model area for the development of similar principles to be made applicable throughout China. General Marshall thanked Admiral Cooke for this suggestion but indicated that a similar proposal already tried by him with reference to North Kiangsu Province had met with failure, but that he would try out Admiral Cooke’s proposal on General Chou.