793.94/15769: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:30 p.m.]
137. J. Leighton Stuart84 told the Counselor in reply to questions yesterday that after a week of conversations with various Chinese leaders he found them uniformly in favor of continued and dogged resistance to Japan. They have not seemed optimistic of an early victory but believe that any terms of compromise Japan would now accept would be far worse for China than continuation of hostilities. Moreover, they feel that China is building up in West China an economic structure that can ultimately be self-sustaining. Chiang Kai-shek especially is determined to go on with resistance and to refuse all offers of negotiations for compromise with Japan. He asserts China is already at the point where it can manufacture such arms and munitions as are used in current types of warfare in China and he is facing without misgiving the prospect of continuing the present hostilities for 5 years more.
Repeated to Peiping. Peiping please air mail to Tokyo.
- American president of Yenching University, Peiping.↩