Wednesday, 20 September

Fine

In the afternoon, the Norwegian Ambassador Andvord visited me. He told me that recently the Soviet Union has intensified its technical installations at Vladivostok. He was not sure whether it was for the purpose of defending an attack from Japan, or to prepare to attack Japan after the end of the European war. So he asked me for my opinion. I told him that I had heard nothing about it but both could be possible. He also asked me about Soviet policy towards its neighbouring state in Eastern Europe, and the prospect of British-American cooperation. I told him that the Soviet Union seemed to adopt a non-intervention policy, as long as they were not anti-Soviet and could not be manipulated as anti-Soviet tools, the Soviet Union would deem this to be satisfactory. It tried its best to create a good impression to the world, because based on experiences of some twenty years, Soviet leaders were watchful, as they thought that countries in Europe and the United States looked down upon it. So it wanted to present itself as a big country, but at the same time it feared that it would be looked down upon again, therefore it had special views towards Britain and the United States. For instance, if the Soviet side promised something it would try its best to deliver, but if the other side did not fulfil its promise, no matter the size of the country or how difficult the situation, they would not excuse them. The Soviet Union would be most concerned with even the slightest incident, this was also true about the criticisms of others. So when we deal with the Soviet Union we should understand this mentality. He completely agreed with my views. He reported to his government that Soviet policy was extremely reasonable. When he prepared this report he thought many times and did not sleep for a few days until he cabled it to his Government, because it matters so much to the future of his country. Therefore even after sending the telegram he still felt insecure. Now on learning my words he was greatly relieved. His visit today was solely for this. He also told me a tiny matter that could prove my observation of Soviet Government mentality was quite right. It happened that several months ago he represented his government to sign a contract to buy a certain material in the Soviet Union. In principle, the Soviet Union would not sign such a contract because it was not sure whether it could fulfil the terms, but for the sake of expressing friendliness, the Soviets not only signed it but also offered great concessions on price and terms. As for the regulation fine for the Norwegian side in case it was unable to fulfil the terms, he asked the Soviet side that in case it was unable to fulfil its terms they should have the same regulation. Soviet officials seemed to be surprised as the Soviet side never went back on its word and declined the regulation. He did not force them further, but from this one can read Soviet authority thought.

I have urged Attaché Hu to write a diary, as it is the best way to train one’s memory and have consistency.

I read Ambassador Joseph C. Grew’s Ten Years in Japan, which recounted the truculence of Japanese militarists in Japan starting from, and how the United States tried to avoid the war from happening. This was enough to see that if the Japanese militarists hadn’t attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States would not hold back from declaring war on Japan, and our country would come under further oppression. As a matter of fact it was the Japanese militarists who saved China. This makes me believe in Buddhist karma.

The Soviet newspapers published in Hurley’s press conference yesterday that someone asked whether the war situation was bad in China, and whether the political problem was particularly bad. Hurley answered that he should ask the military authority. American newspapers also published that someone suggested the reorganisation of the Chinese army which would be under the leadership of, and trained, by Stilwell. From all this it is enough to say that Americans have many misunderstandings with regard to our military aspect. I was deeply worried.