893.00/11–1648
The Consul General at Hong Kong (Hopper) to the Ambassador in China (Stuart)97
Sir: I have the honor to enclose a copy of a written statement98 prepared by Mr. C. Y. Li, of the KmtRC,99 which was furnished to this office by Mr. Li on November 10, 1948. Mr. Li stated that the statement had been drafted some three weeks before.
Mr. Li claims, in the enclosure, that the KmtRC has been responsible for most of the major defections of Kmt troops, including the turnovers at Changchun and Chinchow. He also refers to the significance of the defection of National Government forces at Tsinan, and predicts that KmtRC influence will bring about further defections, claiming that many groups within the Kmt are convinced that it is only the KmtRC which can bring about a solution of China’s difficulties. The enclosure dismisses “the grave concern … of some quarters …1 over the superiority of the Communist military strength as compared with that of the Kmt after the establishment of a Coalition government” with the assertion that all armies of China will be nationalized. That there is no KmtRC army now is explained by the embarrassment which the existence of such an army would cause the Hong Kong authorities, who have given shelter to the KmtRC headquarters, and by the claim that it would be inconsistent for the KmtRC to have an army in view of its sponsorship of a truly national army under the new government. The enclosure concludes with an appeal for the cessation of all aid to Chiang Kai-shek.
It is the opinion of this office that C. Y. Li’s written statement was prepared in explanation of certain statements which he made to Vice Consul Service2 concerning the possible formation of a KmtRC army under Ts’ai T’ing-k’ai and the establishment of a KmtRC administrative area in north China (reference this office’s telegram no. [Page 576] 188, October 16, 9 a. m. [9 p. m.]3 and despatch no. 57, November 1, 1948,4 entitled “Interview with Li Chi-shen,5 October 19, 1948”).
On November 10 C. Y. Li said that he believed that Ts’ai T’ing-k’ai is somewhere in north China, and that he may be leading troops, probably the Yunnan divisions which surrendered at Changchun and Chinchow, Li stressed that if Ts’ai is leading troops, he would be doing so in the capacity of an officer in the (Communist) People’s Liberation Army, and not as a KmtRC leader. From these remarks it may be assumed that the scheme for the formation of a KmtRC army was abandoned by Marshal Li before reference to the CCP (possibly owing to the rapidity of military developments), or that it was rejected by the Communists, who could scarcely be expected to welcome the establishment of a powerful private army within their sphere.
Respectfully yours,
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Consulate General without covering despatch; received November 29.↩
- Not printed.↩
- Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee.↩
- The wording of the enclosure is as follows: “Some quarters have expressed their grave concern,” etc.↩
- Richard M. Service, Vice Consul at Hong Kong.↩
- Not printed, but see telegram No. 1970, October 22, from the Ambassador in China, p. 509.↩
- Not printed.↩
- Chairman of the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee.↩