893.00/5–3047: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 30—5:30 a.m.]
1183. Several staff members of Academia Sinica, the most prominent government-owned research institute in China, expressed the opinion to an officer of the Embassy that the economic situation in China is generally worse than is known because of the food situation. They stated that in the Yangtze valley and in southern China 80 percent of the peasants are now completely out of rice, which is in the hands of wealthy landlords. The peasants are depending upon the spring wheat crop which is below normal due to a dry spring. They [Page 154] anticipate the situation will deteriorate further in early summer and that even more extensive disorders will take place.
They believe the general university strike called for June 2 will result in violence, particularly if it is accompanied by a general labor strike, and that if it is, students will become hopelessly alienated. They believe the Government blundered seriously when it issued the May 18 decrees forbidding demonstrations and that the violence attending the subsequent Nanking and Peiping demonstrations only served to crystallize sympathy for the demonstrators among those students and teachers who had previously remained aloof or had wavered. They furthermore believe that as the crisis deepens and the Communist and right-wing Kuomintang attitudes harden, additional segment of support from groups nearer the center will be attracted to the Democratic League.
It is interesting to note that the Woosung garrison commander in Shanghai closed three more prominent independent papers on the grounds of their having divulged military information detrimental to army morale. These were the Wen Hui Pao which generally adheres fairly closely to a Communist line; the Lien Ho Wan Pao, somewhat to the right of the Wen Hui Pao; and the Hsin Min Wan Pao, which is liberal and highly critical of the Government. The Ta Kung Pao is now the only influential independent newspaper in Shanghai.
The “next step” promised by Nanking students, should the Government fail to comply satisfactorily with their 3-day ultimatum which expired May 26, consists of an announced determination of all Nanking universities to remain on strike until the general strike of June 2 to reaffirm their determination to participate on June 2 and to send small roving squads around Nanking papering the town with protests and agitating among crowds in the streets wherever they can find listeners.