Marshall Mission Files, Lot 54–D270
Minutes of Meeting Between General Marshall and Dr. Stuart at No. 5 Ning Hai Road, Nanking, November 9, 1946, 12:30 p.m.
| Also present: | Colonel Caughey |
Doctor Stuart referred to the meeting yesterday between the Third Party and General Chou En Lai concerning what attitude General Chou En Lai should adopt in answering the Government’s eight points. The resulting letter91 (enclosed) which had been sent to the Government yesterday through General Marshall was the result of this meeting. The letter is non-committal and refers only casually [Page 497] to the eight points, however it holds open a hope for continued negotiations and peace. Doctor Stuart continued by reporting that he had had a conference with Mister Wang Ping-nan92 who had asked him pointblank whether or not he or General Marshall had a hand in the preparation of the Generalissimo’s November 8 statement. Doctor Stuart said that he slightly evaded the issue by saying that he and General Marshall had continuously been urging Generalissimo Chiang to issue some statement and that the Generalissimo’s statement was probably partially a result of this urging together with long consideration of the problem.
General Marshall said that General Chou En Lai’s letter referred to above (and enclosed) together with the Generalissimo’s letter dated 9 November requesting a meeting of the Committee of Three, made the situation look rather hopeful.
Dr. Stuart said that the Third Party, the Communists, and Government representatives are meeting this afternoon at Dr. Sun Fo’s93 residence to attempt to work out some of the major political issues. Dr. Stuart said that he had just seen Mr. Hu Lin, editor of the Ta Rung Pao, and impressed upon him the importance of implementing completely a cease fire agreement in order to permit continued progress toward solution of the political issues. Dr. Stuart said that he had asked Mr. Hu Lin also to stress the importance of convening the Constitutional Draft Committee (including all parties) and the importance of establishing the State Council. Dr. Stuart added that the reorganization of the Executive Yuan was relatively unimportant at this time and could possibly be delayed.