Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270

Memorandum by General Ghou En-lai to General Marshall

My Dear General Marshall: Acknowledging receipt of your memorandum dated April 25 I most appreciate your kindness to inform me of the withdrawal of U. S. Marines and the Government’s design to send two more army units to North China.

As far as the movement of the Nationalist forces is concerned, I don’t see any connection between that and the withdrawal of U. S. Marines. The Nationalist forces now stationed in the Peiping–Tientsin Area comprising 92nd, 94th, 16th and 3rd Armies, apart from puppet units led by Men Ping-yuo, Ho Lu-jung, Kao Teh-lin and Li Sho-hsin, are large enough to dispense with any reinforcement, unless the information I received that the government is contemplating to send the 34th Group Army (consisting of 16th Army and 3rd Army) to Manchuria against the Truce Agreement,23 for waging war proves correct, or else the Government must be intending to destroy the Truce Agreement by taking further aggressive actions in China proper. Otherwise, no such movement seems necessitated.

Please communicate to the Government representative my objection to this contemplated movement.

Faithfully yours,

[Signature in Chinese]
(
Chou En-lai
)
  1. Signed January 10, 1946, vol. ix, p. 125.