Friday, 3 March

Dry, sun

I heard that Guangdong has had a bad famine, and I think my friends and relatives in Foshan lives must have been difficult. Although my salary is not high, I felt that I was obligated to help. If mother was still alive she would be so worried about the poor relatives and friends. Therefore I cabled Section Head Chen Junsu, asking him to remit US$250 to Wu Shupeng (吳述彭)[1], and he was to transfer this to Cainan. Cainan would then give US$50 to Baiyuan, Mrs.Yongqin, the third mistress of Mr.Liang, Mrs.Tianjuan, and Zhuanhao respectively, so as to ease their difficulties. I also asked Chen Junsu to remit US$100 to my niece Fu Huimei, as brother Fu Jincheng (傅金城)[2] has treated me extremely well in the past, so I should help his children.

At 1.30 p.m. the Greek Ambassador, Politis, invited me to a banquet in the Greek Embassy, Ambassador Kerr and others were also present. Minister Balfour said the people of the Soviet Union are really difficult to understand. He provided examples. 1) A certain British military officer fell ill in the Soviet Union, a British doctor said that he must have an operation, so the British Embassy asked for permission for a British airplane to send him to Cairo as there was no equipment there. But the Soviet Union did not agree, saying Soviet doctors said he did not need an operation. The British Embassy negotiated many times with the Soviet Government so the latter summoned well-known Soviet doctors for a further conference and the result of the discussion was that there should not be an operation. The Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs dispatched someone to inform the British Embassy, but after this person had conveyed the message, he then gave landing permission to Minister Balfour. 2) The Intelligence section had a reception in the International Hotel, receiving the British media and introducing them to liaise with the Soviet media. This was certainly a good act. So the British Embassy also invited the British, American and Soviet media in order to strengthen liaison amongst three sides. But when the time came, none from Soviet side came. 3) Because of the connection of certain British and Soviet Union associations, the British Embassy invited people from the Soviet Union to a banquet at the Embassy. They all said yes orally but when the time came they all declined to appear on various pretexts, and so no one arrived. Politis was in the Balkans for many years and thought the Slav peoples’ governments such as Bulgaria did not want foreigners to contact their opposition parties, their governmental parties were eager to be in touch with the Diplomatic Corps, and this is different from here.

[1] Wu Shupeng was Cantonese and a close friend of Fu Bingchang.

[2] Fu Jincheng was Fu Bingchang’s cousin; the son of his uncle. He was a wealthy businessman in Hong Kong.