Sunday, 13 June
At 6.00 p.m. I received a telegram from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was a congratulatory telegram from the Generalissimo to Stalin on United Nations Day. The main content was that the just world that we tried to hold on to had many new participants. The brave army and public which Mr. Stalin led had scored great success in the War of Resistance, and had made a great contribution to the Allies, and he held the firm belief that an Allied victory was not far away. I therefore used my personal name and prepared a letter to Stalin, relaying the telegram to him. And then I phoned the Deputy People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Lozovsky, and made an appointment to give it to him face to face. I went according to the scheduled time. At 10.00 p.m. I went to the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet him. I told him about the telegram from the Generalissimo to Mr. Stalin and its main points. After translation by Secretary Gou, we gave him my letter and the Generalissimo’s telegram. He replied that he would immediately relay the message to Stalin over the phone. I then talked to him with regard to the battles between the Soviet Union and Germany. He said it had been quiet over the past few days and it seemed both sides were in preparation. But the Soviet air force had tried to bombard the rear of the German army. We also talked about the war affairs in China and I told him a little bit about it. Originally I wanted to propose to him that I wanted to visit Moscow, but after careful consideration I thought it might not be the right time. Because if he declined it would be bad for my face, if he accepted, the whole world would know about my visit to Moscow, and I could not be sure that Stalin would meet me, or even if I could meet Molotov, as there were no important things to use as an excuse. If that was the case, I would be embarrassed. So in the last resort I put aside the matter and was being prudent, as the right timing hasn’t come yet, and if I forced my way it would lead to difficulty. Furthermore, the thorniest issues between China and the Soviet Union like the issue of the Chinese Communists has been resolved by the dissolution of the Comintern. The 8th Regiment and the plane factory at Xinjiang have been evacuated. This was not done by me, but we only looked for success, whoever did it was unimportant. I could feel that I was doing my best for Party and country, and I didn’t try to push myself into the limelight too much. Mr.Dai Jitao used to tell me to imitate Zeng Jize. Mr.Lin Sen told me not to hurry for accomplishment. These words came from experienced people and I really respected their insights.