893.00/1–847
The Ambassador in China ( Stuart ) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 24, 1947.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose for the information of the Department an account of an interview with General Chang Chih-chung, Governor of Sinkiang, as published in the English Service of the Central News Agency on January 4, 1947.11
[Page 548]An officer of the Embassy spoke briefly to General Chang on the evening of January 3 and although the General merely stated that he had come to Nanking to report personally on conditions in Sinkiang, he intimated that one of his primary interests was to urge the allocation of sufficient funds to make possible the early implementation of the agreement between the ex-rebels and the Central Government signed at Tihwa on June 6, 1946 between the Central Government and the Ining regime.12
In this general connection, reference is made to Consul Ward’s summary of the Sinkiang situation contained in Embtel 2009 of November 30, 1946,13 particularly to the fourth numbered section in which he refers to the urgent need for Central Government financial support of General Chang Chih-chung in Sinkiang. At the present time the Embassy feels that Consul Ward’s estimate of the situation is valid, but that internal conditions in China and the generally parlous state of economic and financial affairs may make it impossible for the Government to meet the requirements of General Chang. If such proves to be true, further outbreaks in Sinkiang may be anticipated.
Respectfully yours,
Minister-Counselor of Embassy
- Not reprinted.↩
- See telegram No. 965, June 13, 1946, 11 p.m., from the Counselor of Embassy in China, Foreign Relations, 1946, vol. x, p. 1207.↩
- Ibid., p. 1215.↩