Thursday, 30 October

In the morning I went to the Examination Yuan to review the scripts from the senior diplomat examinations. Scripts of a very good standard were rare. I really think that it is difficult to find talent.

Ambassador Gu Weijun cabled, saying that according to news from France, Japan has decided to advance South to cut the Yunnan-Burma Road to block the British and United States’ assistance to China. Japan would concentrate many divisions in Hanoi and Lang Son. This confirmed our intelligence.

Shao Lizi cabled that on the outskirts of Moscow, the war is still tense. Whether it would eventually fall or not depended solely on assistance. Now Russia has gradually found that the British and American assistance is waning and is not sufficient to help.