893.00/4–2147
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Second Secretary of Embassy in China (Melby)55
During the course of a conversation last night on the situation in China, Mr. Lo Lung-chi, Secretary-General of the Democratic League expressed the following opinions:
He prefaced his remarks by saying that the Democratic League stands for a liberal, middle-of-the-road policy and that it is, therefore, opposed both to the Kuomintang and to the Communists, though political exigencies of the moment require it to follow a course of action largely in the support of the Communist position. The League believes that the PCC agreements are the Magna Carta of Chinese liberty, that the Kuomintang deliberately violated them, (if indeed it ever had any intention of complying with them) and that, therefore, [Page 98] the Communists are legally correct when they demand abrogation of the Constitution unilaterally promulgated by the National Assembly in December 1946. Though the Kuomintang does indeed have a legal position of political tutelage which even the Communists admit, still it did voluntarily restrict its position by signing the PCC agreements and therefore must be bound by them and since the Democratic League is a liberal group pledged to a policy of developing a Chinese equivalent of Anglo-Saxon constitutionalism, it must therefore support the Communist position in this respect. He added that the impending reorganization of the government will have very little meaning except as window dressing for foreign consumption since the third parties which will join are little more than Kmt stooges and by entry into the government associate themselves with the illegal actions of the Kuomintang.
Mr. Lo added that the military position of the Kuomintang will, in ten months, be such that it will be forced to accept Communist demands and that by that time all Manchuria and the Shansi area will be in Communist hands. He believes it likely the Communists will then enter the government and that there is a good chance they will, in the end, be the dominant party. He did not believe that it will, however, be a full and complete control. When asked whether he thought the Communists had ever sincerely intended to enter a coalition, he said he thought they did until July 1946 at which time they gave up all hope of such a solution. In answer to another question he expressed some doubt as to whether any coalition government involving elements as divergent as the Kuomintang and the Communists could really be expected to work except under extreme threat from abroad and that this threat does not exist against China at the present.
Concerning American foreign policy, Mr. Lo said the prerequisite for solution in China is cessation of the civil war which can best be achieved by the stoppage of American support to the Kuomintang. Even if such a change in American policy would mean that the Communists would come to power, he does not believe this would involve any genuine threat to Chinese sovereignty since he does not believe that the Soviet Union can control the country because the Chinese people will unalterably oppose Soviet domination just as they now oppose American domination. He added that as between a “fascist Kuomintang” supported by the United States and the Chinese Communist Party supported by the Soviet Union, the Democratic League will support the Communists because they are fighting the greatest menace of all, namely, fascism. Furthermore, even though Communism in China would allow no more scope for the activities of the liberals than does the Kuomintang, still Communism means greater good for the mass of the people and therefore should be supported. [Page 99] The League, would, of course, prefer to see liberals in power and believes the United States should support the liberals. He did not, however, have any suggestions as to how this might be done effectively. He added that should the Communists come to power and prove to be dominated by the Soviet Union, the League would oppose this Soviet influence even as it now opposes American interference on behalf of the Kuomintang. He said he does not believe the Soviet Union is giving material assistance to the Communists though when asked how he would interpret the calculated departure of Soviet forces from Manchuria leaving behind them large stockpiles of Japanese equipment handy for Communist seizure, he had nothing to say. He stated his belief that the Chinese Communists are Chinese first and Communists second and that therefore they too resent Russian interference, and when asked why the Communists, therefore, did not protest the Soviet looting of Manchuria said the Communists could not afford to do so because they needed at least one friend.
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in China in his despatch No. 654, April 21; received May 5.↩