Saturday, 5 June
The Military Attaché Guo met the Czechoslovakian Ambassador this morning. According to him, Davies came to the Soviet Union this time but did not have a very important mission. Probably what he talked of was an economic issue. The Australian Chargé d’Affaires Officer visited me. He also said that he had met with Davies in Moscow. Probably Davies came to the Soviet Union voluntarily, and as he helped the Democratic Party with money, Roosevelt had to acquiesce to his request. For Stalin, the Davies’ visit added grace to his status, therefore he welcomed his arrival. So, according to the Officer’s personal observation, it was Davies himself and Stalin who were most happy with Davies’s visit. As for the political mission, Roosevelt did not ask Davies to help. I asked the Officer about Churchill mentioning that Britain would strengthen the war against Japan, and as Davies happened to visit, I wondered if he had mentioned it to the Soviet Union or not. He said Roosevelt perhaps did not ask Davies to mention this to Stalin, but it was likely that he probed the possibility. This type of meeting (between heads of governments) is extremely difficult, because it was unlikely that Stalin would be willing to leave the Soviet Union, and it was equally difficult for Roosevelt to come to the Soviet Union. The Officer said he was afraid that a portion of British and Americans advocated this idea, Churchill was forced to proffer a similar view, in order to show that it was not he and Roosevelt who were unwilling. This seemed to be directed towards internal voices within their countries, and he didn’t believe it was workable.
I received a telegram from Counsellor Liu. He had arrived at Dihua. The 8th Regiment had evacuated and the oil refinery specialists had also been evacuated, which seemed to be as a result of change within the Soviet diplomatic environment. The Soviet Union didn’t do this voluntarily. It could use this to show their friendliness towards us and to strengthen our diplomatic relationship, but the way they carried this out was so stupid that people would not only not be gratified but also it arouses suspicion. The Soviet way of doing things has always been like this. In the past people said Japan was better than China in all things, but with regard to diplomats, China was ten thousand times better than Japan. I also feel that the internal politics of China was very bad during the past fifty years, but diplomats after Li Hongzhang (李鴻章)[1], the ones whom I knew personally such as Wu Tingfang (伍廷芳)[2], Tang Shaoyi (唐紹儀)[3], and those from later generations like W.W. Yen (顔惠慶)[4], Wang Chonghui, Wu Chaoshu, Guo Taiji and others were all much better than other diplomatic elites in other countries. China is in the most difficult situation but still can survive on its own, and to a certain extent it is because of their contributions. Compared to the knowledge and character of those had been in power like Yuan Shikai (袁世凱)[5], Li Yuanhong (黎元洪)[6], Feng Guozhang (馮國璋)[7], Cao Kun (曹錕)[8], Zhang Zuolin (張作霖)[9], and Wu Peifu (吳佩孚)[10], they are certainly much better fby ten thousand times. Actually, they can not be compared.
In the evening Secretary Xie Yudun (謝于敦) invited me to see a circus in the park.
[1] Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) was an influential statesman in the Late-Qing period.
[2] Wu Tingfang (1842-1922).
[3] Tang Shaoyi (1862-1938) was a statesman in the early-Republican era. He was also a famous diplomat. He came from a wealthy family in Guangdong.
[4] W.W.Yen (1877-1950) had studied at Virginia University and was a famous diplomat in modern China.
[5] Yuan Shikai (1859-1916).
[6] Li Yuanhong (1864-1928).
[7] Feng Guozhang (1859-1919).
[8] Cao Kun (1862-1938)
[9] Zhang Zuolin (1875-1928).
[10] Wu Peifu (1874-1939).