893.00/6–647
The Consul at Peiping (Freeman) to the Ambassador in China (Stuart)48
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith three memoranda of conversation49 dated May 21, May 23, and May 28, 1947, respectively, covering conversations held on those dates with three recent arrivals from Communist-held territory.
The first of these conversations was held with Mr. John Sun Chu, Jr., an American-Chinese who was forced down in Communist-held northern Hopei while piloting an airplane for the Chinese Air Force in a civilian capacity. The second conversation was with Dr. Daryl Parker (reference Consulate’s telegram no. 158, May 17, 1947 to the [Page 170] Department, repeated to the Embassy as no. 14850), an American citizen who was in Ping Ting, Shansi, when that city was occupied by the Communists on April 26, 1947, and spent three weeks in returning to Nationalist territory. The third memorandum covers a conversation with Mr. Robert N. Tharp, a British missionary who was staying with his wife in Ling Yuan, Jehol, when the Communists made a well-prepared and beautifully executed raid on that city on April 27, 1947, departing 36 hours after they had entered.
It is interesting to note that, although these three reports cover conditions in widely separated Communist areas—Hopei, Shansi, and Jehol—and come from people whom one might expect to be fairly anti-Communist—a Chinese-American who fought with the Nationalist Air Force during the war, an American missionary doctor who has spent eight years in China, and a British missionary who was born in Jehol Province—they nevertheless reflect considerable admiration for certain phases of Communist military and civil activities. Points on which these three independent observers appear to agree are as follows: (1) the excellent discipline, good health, and high caliber of the Communist soldiers; (2) the precision and maneuverability exhibited in the Communist military operations; (3) the comparatively good treatment accorded both prisoners and foreigners (even Americans); (4) the consideration of the welfare of the common people in localities newly occupied by the Communists and the absence of sponging off the people; and (5) the earnestness and sincerity with which both civilians and military personnel in the Communist areas are prosecuting the Chinese Communist cause. Dr. Parker, for example, was convinced after his brief experience with the Communists that it would be almost impossible for the Nationalist Government to bring the Communist forces to their knees.
This conception of the military invincibility of the Communist forces is daily gaining more adherents among informed observers in north China, and together with it there is a growing feeling of futility over the attempts of both the Communists and the National Government to seek a military settlement of the outstanding issues. The recent student demonstrations demanding an end to the civil war, the favorable press comment on the overtures to peace made at the current PPC meetings, and the recent joint statements of university professors urging both sides to give up fighting and seek a peaceful solution to their differences are all examples of this trend. It is my opinion, however, that the increasingly apparent ability of the Communist forces to strike where they will and carry off what they require with a minimum expenditure of men and ammunition, plus the [Page 171] obvious incapability of the Nationalist Government to retrieve the confidence of the people by a thorough housecleaning, are indications that peace in China’s civil war was never less [more?] remote.
Respectfully yours,