Thursday, 3 September

Blócl, a correspondent of the Figaro had an interview with Tito who said; 1) The Russians will follow a policy of relaxation as inaugurated in certain countries since the death of Stalin. Taking as a lesson the failure of frenzied industrialization and collectivization, the Soviets would do their best to consolidate their influence by means of a more subtle policy. But he [Tito] did not doubt for an instant that the object of the new policy is but to maintain Soviet influence and control in Eastern Europe. 2) The Beria affair is uniquely an interior affair. Commentators who tried to explain the liquidation of the former Minister of Interior as due to a divergence of views on foreign policy had followed completely the wrong route. “I have known Beria well,” he said with a smile of a man in the know. “He is pre-eminently a man of Stalin’s type, the artisan of the most ferocious purge and the real organizer of the great political trials in Central and Southeastern Europe after the war. Beria would simply like to take the place left vacant by Stalin.  He wanted to become a second Stalin in establishing his personal dictatorship. All this has nothing to do with the foreign policy of the USSR.” I certainly agree with his views regarding Beria.

Invited by Xie Baoqiao to spend the day at his flat. Went there by bus with Kitty, arriving around noon. Mr. and Mrs. Wei Daoming were there. They arrived only a few days ago from Uruguay. Soumay Tcheng[1] is as lively as before and Wei Daoming has gained in weight. He has now a round face like a drum. They told us a great deal about conditions in Uruguay. Meat is cheap and so is house rent. There are only about one hundred Chinese [living there] but they have an excellent Chinese restaurant serving Cantonese food. Life is quiet—too quiet for Soumay, so they are thinking of coming back to live in Paris. The only reason they went there was that they were afraid of a world war three years ago. Qian Zhining (錢子寧) made the same blunder and lost nearly one million U.S. dollars in his paper factory in Brazil by stocking up raw materials for over two years speculating on a rise of prices when the war should come. He had to sell the whole factory back to the original owner at a great loss. The Wei’s left after lunch and we stayed on to play canasta. Qian came to join us for supper and then we played one more game before we left for home, close to mid-night.

[1] Soumay Tcheng (1891-1959); Also known as Tcheng Yu-hsiu, and Madame Wei Tao-ming.  She was the first female lawyer and judge in Chinese history and the lover of Wang Chonghui.