893.01/638: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 21—4:33 a.m.]
Separately I am telegraphing text of message addressed to Chiang Kai Shek by Wang Ching Wei as published in local press January 17.41 With reference to this message Dr. Chu Min-yi, adherent of Wang Ching Wei and former member of Central Supervisory Committee of the Kuomintang, came to see me afternoon of January 19 and handed to me an unsigned memorandum quoted textually in my January 20, 8 a.m.42 Text of penultimate paragraph seems to indicate that it is a copy of a memorandum prepared for and probably handed to the British Ambassador.43 Dr. Chu told me that he had seen the British and French Ambassadors44 prior to their recent departure for Chungking and had explained to them Wang’s ideas and had received what he called assurances of their interest in peace and their willingness to promote peace. Dr. Chu entered upon a long explanation of Wang’s disinterested zeal for the establishment of a peace that would preserve a united China, an independent China, and his belief that Japan was willing to make a peace that would ensure China’s independent existence. He referred to Wang’s telegram to Chiang as an indication by Wang of his desire to serve China even to the point of stepping aside in favor of Chiang if the latter were prepared to make peace with the Japanese.
I asked him whether Wang had negotiated a peace agreement with the Japanese. He said that representatives of Wang on one side and representatives of the Japanese on the other had carried on negotiations and had agreed on the general principles that would underlie such a peace. I asked whether the terms of such a settlement had been published and he said they had not as yet—that there were certain details yet to be settled. I asked whether Chungking had been informed of terms thus agreed upon and he said that he did not know whether Chungking had been informed or not. I inferred that Chungking had not been informed and made the mental note that the telegram which Wang had sent to Chiang Kai Shek and which has been published here in the Japanese-controlled press was intended for consumption in Japan and perhaps for the purpose of embarrassing Chiang rather than as any really honest attempt to bring about agreement and that as such it has probably been worded and despatched [Page 271] and published at the dictates of the Japanese and to serve Japanese purposes. I remarked to Dr. Chu that I understood that the Japanese expected Wang to head an independent government at Nanking.
Dr. Chu stated that of course if Chiang refused to come out and make peace with Japanese, Wang would have to take on the burden himself. He labored to explain that the government which Wang would establish would be the legal heir of the Government at Chungking which would have forfeited the right to speak for the Chinese people; that he would not head a puppet regime such as that set up at Peiping or in Manchuria; that he had no intention of making such a peace as would result in the extinction of China, as had been the case with Abyssinia. He said in conclusion that he had come to see me to explain to me the patriotic purposes of Wang Ching Wei in the hope that I in turn would explain this to my Government and also to the Government at Chungking; he also expressed the hope that the American press would change its tone and cease referring to Wang as a traitor and a puppet.
After reading the memorandum that Dr. Chu presented to me, I said to him that I inferred that he and Wang Ching Wei thought perhaps that my Government was interested in meddling in the domestic political situation in China. I said that I desired at the outset to disabuse him of any idea that my Government was interested in any way in the domestic affairs of China; that, while I would be glad to inform my Government of what he had told me, I could not act as Wang Ching Wei’s ambassador to the Government at Chungking or in any way be held by Wang Ching Wei responsible to Chungking for the integrity of Wang Ching Wei or his purposes. During the course of the conversation Dr. Chu had several times referred to the fact that Chungking was playing closely with Soviet Russia, evidently implying that in some way Chungking was thereby betraying the interests of the United States and other democratic powers.
I stated that we were not concerned with the relations that the Chinese Government might establish with other friendly states; that the United States maintained friendly relations with Soviet Russia and with Japan and that we had always had friendly relations with China over a long period of time and that we hoped that these relations would continue on a friendly basis, our sole interest being in the encouragement of business and trade between our people and the people of the rest of the world on a basis mutually satisfactory; that we were not interested in setting up positions based on privilege or force; and that I was much puzzled by the fact that Dr. Chu was telling us that Chungking was betraying our interests by a more close relationship with Soviet Russia and Japan was telling us that unless [Page 272] we could be more friendly toward Japanese aspirations Japan would have to seek more friendly relations with Soviet Russia.
I concluded the conversation by thanking Dr. Chu for his visit and saying once more that we yielded to no one in our interest in the re-establishment of peace in the East; that it was our hope that a strong, independent and united China would continue to exist, capable of defending its rights, a China with which we might deal directly on a basis of equality and mutual interest along the friendly lines that had characterized our relations with China for the past hundred years and more.
I infer from the conversation and from the text of the memorandum that Wang has agreed to head a new government; that the telegram which he despatched to Chiang is intended to give the new government a place as negotiator for peace for the Chinese people, as it is anticipated that Chiang will refuse to accept the role offered by Wang; that this new government will sign a peace agreement with Japan granting Japan a large share in the state controlled industries by way of the much discussed economic cooperation; that this settlement will be presented to the world and to the people of Japan as a settlement of the China incident and the restoration of peace; that the Chungking Government and its supporters will be declared outlawed by its refusal to negotiate for peace; and that any third powers refusing to recognize the new government will be penalized. Type of Sino-Japanese economic cooperation through establishment of state controlled industries is clearly described in the following mail despatches: No. 398 from Mukden dated October 5; No. 2070 [2742?] from Shanghai dated December 11;45 No. 2443 from Peiping dated January 11 [10].
Repeated to Chungking and Peiping. Code text by air mail Tokyo.