Tuesday, 9 May
Fine, sun
I leaned Russian in the morning.
At noon the Turkish Ambassador invited me to lunch. According to him Turkey was not opposed to joining the war. Britain hadn’t advocated it thinking Turkey’s military strength too weak. Britain thought that if the Turkish army cannot resist the German army, then the German army can enter Egypt from there and then the Middle East. This would place Britain in a more disadvantageous situation. So, a year before when Churchill was in Turkey, British military experts planned to reform the Turkish army, saying it could not be started until a certain stage. At the time Turkey offered a checklist, listing the ammunitions it needed. Now the British side wants the Turkish side to join the war because of pressure from the Soviet Union. But the Turkish side had several requests.1) Britain should provide it with the ammunitions specified in the British military experts’ checklist. 2) Britain should strengthen Turkish air defence and Turkey demanded Britain should pay as much attention to the defence of Istanbul as London. But the British side said Turkey did not need such ammunition, and only provided Turkey with 30% to 40% air force defence. Turkey did not completely agree, so we cannot blame the Turkish side for not fulfilling the treaty unilaterally. But now between Turkey and Britain negotiation is under way, it is still very likely that they will reach agreement. All in all, the Turkish side has only demanded equal status in the Allies’ warfare. If Britain is not willing to take the risk, it is pointless for it to merely blame the Turkish side. He also said that Turkey had promised to cease the supply of Chromium because he had advocated sternly for it.
Jiang Fangling sent a telegram to me, saying that Fu Jintu is having problems with urination. She said her mother has come to Chongqing and she doesn’t have enough money. I then replied by mail (because the diplomatic messenger will leave Moscow tomorrow.), saying that my monthly salary is just US$550. I have reserved US$200 for her, Guilin US$100 and Liuzhou US$100, I am only left with no more than US$200 for my own use. I am unable to send more. I told her if Jintu needs medication, she can ask Director Xie for help. Fangling was originally not like this, but after I left China she wrote to me that she wanted to separate. Though I reserved more for her, she did not write to me. Now the situation is like this, I think she has been urged by others. Her family did not receive much education. When she left her family and worked, she knew a little a bit about what happened in society. Because I was strongly influenced by filial piety, I urged her to reconcile with her family. But the result is that they were too ignorant and supposed their daughter was enjoying prestigious status so they made many excessive demands. Fangling was badly encouraged by them and her judgement is weak, if she comes under such bad influence I am afraid that it will not yield any good result. I loved her because of her merits, nevertheless I suffered much. Things were not anticipated. Though I suffered, it would not lessen my adherence to the basic concept of ethics and morality.
After a lot of research and interviews, Attaché Hu Jibang finished the report with regard to the Polish Patriotic League and Soviet-Polish relations. It is well-written. She is really adept in this aspect, other people in the Chinese Embassy are not equal to her. Nevertheless, she is just a woman and she is narrow-minded. She is unable to cooperate smoothly with Embassy personnel. Otherwise her achievement could be far greater. But everyone has his own merits and faults. We shouldn’t be so hyper-critical.