Saturday, 19 August
Rain
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied to my cable concerning the incidents in Xinjiang Province. They only sent me a telegram from Governor Sheng and its wordings are filled with reluctance, revealing that what they did to the Soviet Union was not without valid reasons. If we reply to the Soviet Union exactly like this certainly it will be dissatisfied. Also I am afraid that they might think our Central Government is trying to shield the illegal activities of the local authorities. This could only be bad for Sino-Soviet relations. Also we as diplomats cannot just ignore the facts and only try to liaise between the local authorities and foreigners. So I had a long talk with Shaozhou and Jingchen, and first we cabled the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pointing out the weak points of Governor Sheng’s telegram. I need Governor Sheng to tell the facts of every incident. Then I informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Soviet Government is very serious about this, and if the reply is not satisfactory, there will be strong ramifications. I do not want the malicious actions of one individual who took revenge upon the Soviets making the Sino-Soviet relationship turn sour, retarding the cooperation of the Big Four Powers and the political progress of China.