Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
201671834
label
Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
201671834
contentType
document
title
Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams
citationUrl
collections
Records of the Naval Aide to the President (Truman Administration)
State Department Briefs Files
subjects
Chou, En-lai, 1898-1976
Mao, Tse-tung, 1893-1976
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
201671834
levelOfDescription
item
productionDates
day
3
logicalDate
1949-06-03
month
6
year
1949
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
5563858b884f8cc3
ocrText
DEPARTMENT OF STATE
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
WASHINGTON
June 3, 1949
T D E I
SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS
CHINA
Chou En-lai, a member of the Central Executive Committee of
the Chinese Communist Party, has transmitted a message to
our Consulate General in Peiping urging that American assistance be
given to a Communist China. He said that the most pressing need in
China is for reconstruction without regard to political theories and
believes that China is on the brink of complete economic collapse and
desperately needs assistance from abroad which the USSR cannot give
and which therefore must come from the US and the UK. He feels that
the US should aid China because it is still not a Communist state and
will not be for a long time if the policies of Mao Tse-tung, the
Communist leader, are correctly implemented. He feels that a demo-
cratic China would serve as 8. mediator between the western powers and
the USSR and pointed out that a China in chaos would be a menace to
peace. He said that, though there is no actual split in the Chinese
Communist Party, liberal and radical wings have definitely developed
within it, but that it would be a mistake to base any policy toward
China on the idea that a major split would develop. The radicals
desire an alliance with the USSR, while the liberal group believes that
the Soviets are risking a war which they are unable to fight success-
fully. Chou believes that an economy has developed in the US which is
outside of the Marxist theories and that, therefore, the Soviet belief
that an internal collapse of our economy will take place is wrong. He
added that the Chinese Communist propaganda is doing great harm as the
party itself is beginning to believe it. He thinks that good working
relations between the US and China would have a definite softening
effect on the Communist Party attitude toward the western countries.
According to the source of the message, Chou appeared very nervous and
worried.
DECLASSIFIED
E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-402
State Dept. Guideline, June 12, 1979
By NLT HC
NARS, Date 11-13-to
-
E
C
R