893.00/12–2447: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 24—2:17 p.m.]
2453. ReDeptel 1542, December 19, 8 p.m. Dr. Sun Fo did, in fact, make the statement attributed to him by Scripps-Howard correspondent on December 10, as well as previous ones in somewhat similar vein. Most of his statements received fairly general dissemination throughout China, though they have not been the subject of editorial comment.
The Embassy’s first reaction was that they certainly could not have been made without the prior knowledge and at least tacit consent of Gimo. It was our belief, particularly with reference to earlier statements, that they were part of a more or less organized Chinese Government plan to exert pressure on US to expedite an aid program by waving a Russian herring under the American nose. There has never been any public evidence which would contradict this belief. Several of the more reliable American correspondents, however, with excellent Chinese connections, have finally come to conclusion that Sun Fo made these statements on his own initiative and responsibility and entirely without reference to general Government or Kuomintang policy. These correspondents are convinced Sun Fo has been reprimanded for them and particularly in case of December 10 statement that Gimo was furious and in no uncertain terms warned him that repetition of such actions would have serious consequences for him.
The above should not be taken to mean, however, that Sun Fo does not necessarily have a certain amount of following in the Government. In this connection reference is made to Embassy’s top secret telegram 2436, December 22, noon, and Embassy’s secret airgram 275 of December 19.
… In this connection, it should be recalled that Percy Chen3 is currently associated with Sun Fo in financial transactions as well as in political affairs and is known to have contacts with Soviet circles in China. Embassy is convinced, however, that any such views are shared by only minority of the Chinese Government.
Further complicating the problem is movement in CC clique with what appears to be the objective of relieving Sun Fo of his jobs of Vice President of the Republic and President of Legislative Yuan. Unquestionably, the struggle between the two factions has been at least partially responsible for postponement of the convocation of [Page 417] National Assembly and of elections to Legislative Yuan and would certainly have some effect on Sun Fo’s course of action since his personnel ambitions are the dominant force in his activities.
- Son of the late Eugene Chen, Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs at Hankow, who left for Moscow in the summer of 1927; he served again later when Sun Fo headed the Government, December, 1931.↩