Monday, 8 May

Rain

The British newspaper News Chronicle published the news that negotiations between the Chinese Government and the Chinese Communists will soon begin. It also said that Wang Shijie will go to Yenan and Lin Zuhan (林祖涵)[1] will receive him. It said too that recently Britain and the United States expressed their hopes for China’s reform, and the hope that it can be materialised gradually. The United States hoped that China could launch political, financial and economic reforms and others in particular, and it even hoped that the Guomintang could cooperate with other parties, especially the Chinese Communist Party. Based on this I thought of the telegram I received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today referring to Liang Hancao’s talk, saying that the foreigners’ criticisms were, on the whole, acceptable and there is room for the Chinese Government to reform. Perhaps the cable had something to do with this. The Soviet side reprinted that the News Chronicle article was triggered by Chinese Communist Party negotiation. If this Is the case the situation is not as serious as I earlier estimated. If the Central Government can find a way for cooperation, it will be a blessing for our country. Wang Shijie has long been enthusiastic about this, and I wished him every success.

[1] Lin Zuhan (1886-1960) was a Communist leader of China.