Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek to President Roosevelt 87
“You were good enough to indicate in your message of October 6th88 that although there would not be, in the present situation, an American officer in command of Chinese ground forces in China, you are willing to continue General Hurley as your personal representative regarding military affairs in China, although your original directive to General Hurley of August 18th seems to limit the subjects on which he is authorized to cooperate with me.
I do hope that General Hurley’s assignment as your personal representative will be on a more permanent basis, and that he will be given a directive broad enough that he could cooperate with me on many vital questions involving our military relationship with U.S.A. For instance, I am relying upon him for assistance in negotiation with the Chinese Communists with whom he is already conferring. It is my purpose to increase the Communist troops in the regular forces of the National Army, and this now constitutes one of the most vital requisites in our war against Japan. General Hurley has my complete confidence. Because of his rare knowledge of human nature, and his approach to the problem, he seems to get on well with the Communist leaders. As your personal representative, possessing my full confidence, his contribution in solving this hitherto insoluble problem would be of the greatest value to our war effort.
I am sending this message through the present channel because it affects General Hurley personally.
- Undated telegram sent by T. V. Soong to Harry L. Hopkins, with the following introductory sentence: “Generalissimo asked me to request you to transmit the following personal message to the President”. Copy obtained from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N. Y.↩
- Presumably the message dated October 5, p. 165.↩