Office of the Historian

893.00/2–149: Telegram

The Ambassador in China (Stuart) to the Secretary of State

Nanking, February 1, 1949—10 p. m.
[Received February 3—3:15 a. m.]

292. North Shensi broadcasts January 29 and 30 use some new sledge hammers in effort to drive home alleged justice of CCP peace conditions.

In new tactic, former broadcast claimed that acquittal of Japanese war criminal, General Okamura, former Commander in Chief of Japanese Expeditionary Army in China, in Shanghai on January 26 “scheme to use hypocritical peace negotiations as cover for regrouping Kmt forces and war preparations, including plot to bring Japanese reactionaries to China to join Nationalist Government in fighting Chinese people”. Broadcast ordered Nationalist Government to rearrest Okamura and deliver him to PLA92 at time and place to be designated. This demand will presumably be unacceptable to Nationalist Government, if only as point of honor, and may in any event be impossible of fulfillment as press February 1 reports Okamura already departed China en route Japan. While new demand is primarily tailored to influence Chinese public opinion and to embarrass Kmt, it also reflects deep-rooted CCP suspicions of Japanese and American policy in Japan.

Broadcast January 29 also referred to CCP correctness and success in “settling Peiping question peacefully in conformity with Mao’s eight terms” and pointed out that “this not only prepares site for peace negotiations, but furthermore sets example for settling peace question of Nanking, Shanghai, Hankow, Taiyuan, Kunming, Canton, Lanchow, Tihwa, Clean [sic], Hainan, et cetera”. Parenthetically, broadcast made no effort to explain contradiction between CCP offer to negotiate peace with Nationalist Government on basis of Mao’s eight points and its strong implication that peace will be negotiated on individual [Page 101] and regional basis with several commanders. Finally, broadcast repeated demand that Nationalist Government arrest 43 war criminals including particularly Chiang Kai-shek as well as Soong, Chen Cheng,93 Ho Ying-chin, Chen brothers,94 K. C. Wu, Wang Shih-chieh,95 Tang En-po, and six others.

Broadcast January 30 related how 34 “democratic orators” including Li Chi-shen, Shen Chun-ju,96 Ma Hsu-lun,97 Kuo Mo-jo,98 Madame Feng Yu-hsiang99 and Tsai Ting-kai1 attacked Kmt false peace plots and fully supported Mao’s eight-point peace terms” at mass meeting January 26 in North China. Typical of approval of CCP policy by these persons was statement of novelist Mao Tun that “unless we obtain eight-point peace terms raised by CCP, PLA should fight all way to Hainan Island”.

We would observe that no North Shensi broadcast to date has yet contained slightest hint of any relaxation in CCP peace terms. On contrary, with every attack peace terms become more firmly set. Principal significance of these broadcasts therefore resides in fact that they are part of great Kmt–CCP publicity and propaganda campaign now being waged for purpose of influencing public opinion of this weary and devastated country as respects which side is responsible for refusing to call halt to civil war.

Sent Department, repeated Embassy Canton 7, pouched Shanghai.

Stuart
  1. People’s Liberation Army (Communist).↩
  2. Governor of Taiwan.↩
  3. Chen Li-fu and Chen Kuo-fu, leaders of the C-C clique in the Kuomintang.↩
  4. Recently resigned Minister for Foreign Affairs.↩
  5. Democratic League member.↩
  6. Revolutionary pacifist.↩
  7. Poet and writer.↩
  8. Widow of Marshal Feng Yu-hsiang, who died in 1948 en route to Odessa aboard a Soviet ship.↩
  9. General and member of Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee.↩