Monday, 8 March

Third day of the second lunar month

At 7.30 a.m. we arrived in Moscow, and stayed at the National Hotel. At 6.00 p.m. I went to the Kremlin to see the Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs, Molotov, and he expressed his welcome, and then I relayed regards on behalf of The Generalissimo and Minister Song, and said that the Generalissimo had asked me to congratulate the Soviet Government over its recent military victory. Molotov replied with his thanks, insisting that the German Army was still very strong. He said that they wouldn’t underestimate their strength, and will use the greatest effort, only then would they be able to win the war. In a recent public letter, Mr. Stalin stressed this point. I replied that to win and not be smug about it was the best policy. Molotov also said he was willing to try his best to maintain the friendship between China and the Soviet Union, because of the needs of the two peoples. The Soviet Union was not unwilling to provide help for the Chinese War of Resistance. The reason was that the Soviet Union needed to deal with the strong enemy, Germany. I gave the copy of my credentials to him and told him President Sun had letters for him and Mr. Stalin, and he said he would hand it over to Stalin. After presenting the credentials, I said I would want to have a long talk with him, and he said he was quite willing to do so. We talked for about 25 minutes, and Wasilkov was the translator. During the talk, Molotov’s attitude seemed to be quite positive.