121.893/7–1747: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 17—8:20 a.m.]
1543. Following was published in North Shensi news broadcast, datelined July 16:
“By sending the infamous Wedemeyer back to China, American imperialists hope to carry out aggression in China with free hand and to prop up Chiang Kai-shek’s moribund rule,” says New China News Agency commentator in comment on Wedemeyer’s return. Text of comment follows:
“Chinese people are all too familiar with Wedemeyer, American imperialist educated in Prussian militarism. His record in China reads as follows: After Japanese surrender he hastily sent American troops to occupy Tsingtao, Peiping, Tientsin and Chinwangtao, all of which had been surrounded by People’s Liberation Armies, while directing Japanese and puppet troops to hold those cities and refuse surrenders to People’s Armies. At same time he organized his biggest air transport feat [fleet?], flying 6 of Chiang Kai-shek’s armies to Shanghai, Nanking, Peiping, Tientsin, Tsingtao and Tsinan. Later on he shipped 5 of Chiang’s armies through American-occupied Chinwangtao to fight civil war in Manchuria, where Manchurian People’s volunteer army had been active for 14 long years, and which territory had long ago been renounced by Chiang.
“After all these nefarious activities—helping dictator Chiang and opposing Chinese people—name of Alfred [Albert] Wedemeyer became as odious as that of Patrick Hurley.30 When Marshall wanted to appear as ‘neutral mediator’ therefore, he had no choice but to send Wedemeyer back to United States. Now American imperialists Truman and Marshall see that Chiang is tottering on brink of collapse [Page 653] and that American imperialism’s position in China is imperiled. They have tossed their ‘neutral’ masks onto the rubbish heap long ago and now they send this infamous Wedemeyer back to China. In this way they hope to carry out aggression in China with free hand and to prop up Chiang’s moribund rule.
“All of which goes to show,” commentator concludes, “that American imperialism is now quite panicky and requires adoption of barbarous open direct methods of intervention in China, just as in Greece. But American imperialists will find out that they have misjudged Chinese people. People of China are just as courageous and resolute as people of Greece, but their strength is many times greater. Chinese people drove out Japanese imperialism, and they will certainly drive out American imperialism as well.”
- Ambassador in China, December 1944–November 1945.↩