793.94/16297: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 5—10:05 a.m.]
559. 1. My British colleague came to see me yesterday afternoon, stating that he came at the request of the Generalissimo to inform me of a conversation which he had had with the latter on the second instant. From the outline of that conversation, it appears that Generalissimo amplified what he had said as reported in my 524, October 17, 7 p.m.,1 by repeating what he had said to me about the effect of Communist campaign designed to discredit ability of his Government to defend China from Japan as reported in my 526, October 18, 9 p.m.2 British Ambassador said that Generalissimo stated he would ask me to come to see him again latter part of this week. I outlined to British Ambassador nature of reply which we have made to Generalissimo.
2. Later the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hsu Mo, came to see me at the instance of the Generalissimo and stated that the latter had given serious thought to the reply which we had made and to remarks about parallelism between interests of China and the United States. He wondered whether I had given this any thought and particularly whether I had offered any suggestions to Washington as to nature of concerted action. I replied saying that I had not, that I knew that Washington was giving such matters consideration and that steps would be taken as events developed as stated by the Department in its message to the Generalissimo. The Vice Minister said that the Generalissimo had stated that he would be glad to discuss with me such suggestions and that he knew that the Generalissimo would wish to see me later in the week to give me some suggestions. I stated that while I would at all times be glad to receive from the Generalissimo any suggestions or thoughts that he might desire transmitted I was in no sense empowered to negotiate or carry on discussion and that I thought that it would tend to confuse the situation if the Generalissimo [Page 685] should not put his suggestions to Soong and the Chinese Ambassador now in Washington and in touch with the authorities there who were sympathetic and prepared to discuss. Vice Minister Hsu Mo was not accurately informed of the fact that all airplane and most armament equipment in the United States is made by private firms and purchased by the United States Government on contract with such firms and that planes supplied to the British are supplied under contract and under license in just the same manner as planes have been supplied to the Chinese and, what is more important, delivered to the British not in French [American?] vessel but at the port of Itu [sic] whence the British carry them in their own ships to the British ports where they are needed. Doctor Hsu remarked that China did not have the money that Great Britain had to pay for the planes which she needs. I stated that that was a matter which would have to be threshed out in Washington between Soong and the authorities there.
4. [3?] I made inquiry of Dr. Hsu Mo about Russian supplies, saying that I had been surprised to learn that they had stopped. He stated, as I anticipated, that no Russian planes had come. I gather that the Chinese had come to depend upon expected supply of Russian planes which they were receiving on credit as they could not get planes from the United States on credit and that it is either the exhaustion of Russian credit or refusal to supply further planes on credit by Russia that has left them in the present serious situation.
5. [4?] It is my expectation that after the election I shall receive a request from the Generalissimo to call and shall gain further suggestions from him.
Sent to the Department only.