Sunday, 13 May

In the afternoon, Duan Guanhai came with his wife. According to him, Xie Dongfa had inquired about the matter of Sun Fo’s visa from the Internal Department. According to him, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has only sent the visa to the Internal Department recently. But it is just normal procedure. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Internal Department both pushed the ball. It is universal that government organs are slow in handling things. Duan Guanhai said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instructed that with regard to the dismissal of General MacArthur, various Chinese embassies were not allowed to comment. This was naturally the most appropriate way. He also told me that he had invited the Canadian Ambassador for a banquet. The latter had agreed to attend. But after Duan had debated the CCP issue with him, the latter said that he was unable to come. He said the attitude of the Canadian Ambassador was really too bad. The attitude of the British government is like this, therefore it is only very natural that its representatives of the Dominions are the same. I thought that under such circumstances Duan Guanhai should not be eager to debate with others. It is because they would have some prejudice due to the policies of their governments, so it is impossible to win them back by arguments. This would merely hurt the feelings of both sides and would have no benefit. This should be avoided for diplomats.