893.00/14636: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received 1:10 p.m.]
42. My 25, January 17, noon and 27, January 18, 4 p.m.27 According to information available to the Embassy, there have been no marked repercussions to the public announcement of the disarming of the unit of the New Fourth Army which had organized south of the Yangtze River. The Communist leaders Chou and Yeh remain in Chungking and are reported to be maintaining their usual contacts with the Government. The Communist Daily continues publication, has made no reference to the Anhwei incident apart from the publication of a brief poem of lament by Chou En Lai. The attitude of Mao Tse Tung and the other Communist leaders in North China is not yet known. According to sources close to the Communists, Chou En Lai is represented as adopting the point of view that the Communists have the pleasure of resorting to military measures against the Government and that no matter what happens China can not be plunged into civil war at this time. Informed observers are of the opinion that this incident is not likely to result in a critical or irretrievable deterioration of Kuomintang-Communist relations.
- Latter not printed.↩