Friday, 12 November

The Australian Charge d’Affaires invited the American ambassador to dinner and asked me to join them as well. According to diplomatic etiquette, I should be sitting in the best seat, but since he rang me and asked me to go, and said that this dinner was especially for the American Ambassador, he put him on the head table, and I don’t blame him for that. I think this is a new method. The Charge d’Affaires talked about British politics, and he felt it must be Anthony Eden who would become Prime Minister after Churchill. The American Ambassador Harriman said he didn’t agree with the power struggle within Free France.

Attaché Hu talked to the children of a Soviet doctor yesterday. It was quite interesting. It happened that the former American Ambassador Standley found that many children played in the small garden in front of his place. He enjoyed giving them chocolate. The doctor’s two children also received chocolates and they were back home. Attaché Hu asked them what they thought about the American Ambassador. The eldest said he was quite old, not very good looking and he didn’t like him. The younger one used a little stick to hit the brother, and said he was so kind to give chocolate to both of them. He said his brother was bad that he should say the American Ambassador was not good. From this one could say Russiana are a kind people. The doctor also had a daughter aged eight. Attaché Hu asked her if the American Ambassador gave her sweets, what would she do. She answered that she would decline. Attaché Hu asked why. She answered that the American Ambassador would think that Soviet kids didn’t have sweets and would look down upon them. Attaché Hu said this wouldn’t be the case and said if the Soviet Ambassador to the United States gave sweets to American kids, they would accept. He said if the American working class living standard was better than their Ambassador, their kids would certainly decline. From this we can see Russian patriotism and their education of self-encouragement. If a nation knows its shortcoming and tries to force itself to rise up, the nation will rise in the future. I think the Soviet Union’s prospects will be very good.