Friday, 7 November

At 11.30 I went to the Soviet Embassy to attend the Memorial Ceremony for the Soviet revolution.

Zhu Yuanzhang (朱垣章) cabled to report that the enemy had told Vietnam that it would invade Yunnan via Vietnam by the second half of November.

The American Embassy reported that Kurusu Saburō came to the United States with no new proposals.

Ambassador Gu Weijun reported his talk with the British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden on 5 November as follows:

1) Gu Weijun told Eden that Japan would invade Yunnan from northern Vietnam with the aim of cutting the Burma Road. So he hurried to him the previously discussed British-American warning to Japan, sending the air-force stationed at Singapore to help defend us against Japan, as well as the cablegram from the Generalissimo to Churchill. Eden said he had talked with the Prime Minister and had met with various ministries and the Chief-of-Staff, telling them how serious the situation had become. Now he had cabled Washington to discuss the matter.

2) Eden said, according to British speculation, the current hard stance of Japan was because of the economic sanctions. An invasion of Yunnan could not solve its problems, so he thought that Japan had intentions towards the Nanyang Islands with plans to advance from there. Gu Weijun said the southern advancement would come into direct confrontation with Britain and the United States, therefore invasion of Yunnan would be not that risky.

3) Eden thought that the important measure now was to warn Japan. For this the United States had told Japan that it could not use Vietnam to invade China or advance southward. Now it was more logical to be launched by the United States. No matter how the American side treated the Japanese, Britain would follow. Eden hoped that it could be decided within one week.

4) Eden said the air forces stationed at Singapore were limited and it was not easy to move them to Burma. The various facilities would pose problems too. Gu Weijun replied that the air forces stationed at Singapore were for fighting against the Japanese. Now what we discussed was to help us to fight against the Japanese. This would also be working for Britain, and would not diminish the strength of the said force. As for facilities, within Burma there would be substantial facilities. Eden said that he could secretly tell Gu that this was also the reason he had raised the meeting. Unfortunately, those in-charge of the military authority had other designs. Now Britain was trying to transfer several technicians and experts from Singapore to help us, but they had to come to China under the title of volunteer. As for whether this could be accomplished or not, he had cabled to ask for the Singapore side’s opinion, and it was still pending.

5) Gu Weijun asked why Britain was still so hesitant towards Japan. Eden said Britain had limited strength in the Far East, so it needed to depend on the United States to take the brunt. Britain would follow the United States closely.

6) Gu Weijun said the United States has not yet joined the war in any aspect. Now Britain wanted the United States to take the lead in the Far East which was no easy task. But if Japan declared war on Britain on the grounds that Britain helped China, on considering it the United States must join the war to help Britain. Eden said such opinion was quite ‎ingenuous, but was also logical. He expected that the United States would be likely to take this path.

7) Gu Weijun said that given that we were in a critical stage regarding the prospect of this War of Resistance, he thought Britain would not stand apart. Eden said he could secretly tell Gu Weijun that Britain was now discussing with the United States one type of naval demonstration.[1] Gu Weijun was really outstanding in his capability and talent, and he should be well acclaimed in our diplomatic community. He is truly admirable.

Chen Mingshu was invited to dine at the Guangdong Restaurant. I heard it was for his birthday. On returning home I went to bed early as I was really tired.

[1] Fu Bingchang underlined the sentence in the diary.