Monday, 10 April

Military Attaché Guo reported that yesterday he learned from the American Attaché headquarters about what Ambassador Harriman reported when he was back in the United States.

Last night the Secretary of State, Hull, broadcast in America. He stressed Britain and China relied on no one to resist, and that the peace of the world cannot be maintained if the Four Powers do not respect the interests of others and do not have mutual understanding. He said as follows. “……there is no hope of burning victory into enduring peace unless the real interests of this country, the British Commonwealth, the Soviet Union and China are harmonized and unless they agree to act together.  This is the solid framework upon which all future policy and international organization must be built…Without an enduring understanding between these four nations upon this fundamental purposes, interests and obligations to one another, all organizations to preserve peace are creations on paper and the path is wide open again for the rise of a new oppressor,….I am stating what I believe the common sense of my fellow countrymen and all men will recognize that for these powers to become divided in their aims and fail to recognize and harmonize their basic interests can only produce disaster and that no machinery, as such, can produce this essential harmony and untiy……agreement can be achieved only by trying to understand the other fellows point of view and by going as far as possible to meet it.” I was very grateful that he treated China well like this. With the recent incidents, we particularly needed the warm support of Mr. Hull towards our country. No wonder he told me he was actually a friend of China. In the speech, he warned that all the neutral countries should express their views towards France and Italy, their views towards the post-war relieving of Europe and European politics, as well as post-war world economic construction and so on. He can look ahead. This is a really good article in modern diplomatic history.

Today the Red Army recovered Odessa.

I heard that the British newspaper the Yorkshire Post has published articles saying that the Soviet Union has aggressive intentions towards China, Iran, Afghanistan and others. I then cabled Ambassador Gu Weijun and asked him to summarise it and cable me.