893.01/647: Telegram
The Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received 5:14 p.m.]
69. My 60, January 22, 1 p.m.51 Wang Ching Wei organ Central China Daily News yesterday carried denial by Wang’s private secretary that document disclosed by Kao Tsung-wu and Tao Hsi-sheng constituted agreement signed with Japanese on December 30, secretary stating that it was, instead, a Japanese proposal midway in the negotiations and that the disclosure was prompted by (1) a desire to curry favor with Chungking and (2) ignorance of Kao and Tao of full import of results of most recent negotiations. He stated that the peace terms would “eventually” be made public. Editorial in the same newspaper alleged that the two politicians were bought over by Chiang Kai-shek, and that the latter was swindled in the deal. It was further stated that the agreement signed constitutes preamble for a peace treaty but not the treaty itself, which will be signed by the new Central Government; and that “The result of peace discussions is a loss, but the results of the war of resistance would be annihilation of the country: the people of the nation well know which to choose and which to discard.”
The admission that the document published by the two Chinese politicians at least constituted a Japanese proposal and the recognition by the editorial writer that the peace terms will be onerous leads one to the deduction that the agreement between Wang and the Japanese includes more than thus far made public (see Shanghai’s 51, January 17, 7 p.m.). Chinese circles consider that the agreement probably approximates the published document and it is pointed out in support of that deduction that Kao Tsung Wu was Director of the Bureau of Asiatic Affairs when Wang Ching Wei was Minister for Foreign Affairs52 and that he then and subsequently participated in Wang’s negotiations with the Japanese, until recently when he is reputed to have been supplanted by Chou Fu Hai. The evidence indicates that Wang has yielded considerably to Japanese pressure and that his camp has suffered a split as a result. Chen Kung Po is reported to be at present in Hong Kong, presumably waiting to discover current political tendencies before taking a definite stand one way or the other. [Page 277] Tang Leang Li and Chou Fu Hai on the other hand appear to be standing by Wang, and the former is reliably quoted as stating that it is pointless to propose fighting until the last Japanese soldier leaves Chinese soil—and he implied that it would be preferable to make peace with Japan and endeavor to recoup losses through cooperation with that country.
Despatch follows.53
Repeated to Peiping, Chungking. By air mail to Tokyo.