Thursday, 28 January

Twenty-third day of the twelth lunar month

In the morning I went with Ma Chaojun to Mr. Wu Tiecheng’s to talk about the Guangdong question. The Foreign Office agreed to help Ma Chaojun. Wu Zhixiang (吳子祥) said Roosevelt and Churchill would confer in North Africa. It was rumoured that the Generalissimo was invited to take part, but was unable to go.

In the evening, Soviet Ambassador Panyushkin invited me to a farewell dinner. After dinner, we talked for about two hours. I said the international situation has changed so much that it couldn’t be predicted, but between China and the Soviet Union we had no choice but to stay friendly. Our Dr.Sun Yat-sen and Mr. Lenin realised this and so they decided on a friendly policy between our two countries. The Generalissimo was the disciple of Dr.Sun Yat-sen, and so he followed closely this policy as decided by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. So, I hope our diplomats will maintain, as most important, this basic policy. Occasionally, even though there are some trivial matters that could not meet expectations, we should not be disappointed. He also agreed, but he remarked that 1) on the side of the Chinese Government there was still a section of people who did not understand the Soviet Union and we should work harder. 2) The Xinjiang authority have not yet changed their attitude towards the Soviet Union, like the recent strike incident at the Dushanzhi oil field.3) They should pay attention to trivial matters as they could affect the whole situation. 4) Regarding education we should cooperate more. I replied that 1) Ambassador Panyushkin should well know the Sino-Soviet relationship over the last ten odd years, and I agreed we should work harder. 2) The Central Government now provided more guidance to Xinjiang and it would definitely improve in the future. When the special envoy Wu Zexiang (吳澤湘) was dispatched, I gave him clear instructions that, in case anything happened in Xinjiang concerning diplomacy, he should try his best to send it to the Central Government for handling, and Ambassador Panyushkin and I would deal with it directly. When I pass Xinjiang, I will talk to special envoy Wu again.