893.00/8–747
Memorandum by the Consul General at Tientsin (Smyth) to General Wedemeyer 90
Political Résumé of Situation in North China
. . . . . . .
Reports on conditions in Communist held areas vary considerably. Some Americans and other foreigners, chiefly UNRRA personnel, [Page 710] report that, while life is not easy, distribution of food and clothing is equitable. Others report that local officials make life difficult. A British missionary recently returned from Jehol commented that Communist soldiers are well disciplined and treat people of captured cities quite well, but that when the soldiers leave and civilian Communist officials take over, conditions soon change for the worse; he said that many civilian Communist officials are bad and have alienated the people. It may well be that in Jehol, where the Communists have recently taken over considerable areas, there are not enough trained civilian officials to go around. In southern Hopei, long held by the Communists, civilian officials are said to be honest, but several Friends with UNRRA have recently returned from southern Hopei due to constant difficulties with local bureaucrats. The Communists’ chief hold on people in the interior, the vast majority of whom are farmers, derives from their agricultural policy and distribution of large land holdings among poorer farmers. Foreigners who have recently been in Communist areas in southern Hopei have remarked that Communist areas in southern Hopei have remarked that Communist policy toward large landlords, which was comparatively mild during the Sino-Japanese war and for some time thereafter, has now hardened and large holdings are being broken up. It has frequently been said that in the long run China, which is primarily agricultural, will be taken over by that party which can provide the best conditions of life for the farmer. One of the chief weaknesses of the National Government has been its land policy; many people feel that the Government could have cut the ground from under the Communists at any time during the past fifteen years by putting into effect a more equitable land policy; it may now be late, but even now, if the influential group of landowners in the Government could be forced into acquiescence, much could be done. Practically all foreigners coming from Communist areas in this province report a bitter anti-American feeling, with anti-American posters, lectures, and touring troupes harping on the theme that America is one of the causes of their trouble.
. . . . . . .
- Copy sent to the Embassy in the Consul General’s despatch No. 106, August 7; copy received by the Department, August 26.↩