Wednesday, 4 November
Sir Winston Churchill in a speech inaugurating a new session of the House of Commons yesterday repeated his belief that since the death of Stalin, there have been far reaching changes in the temper and outlook of U.S.S.R. which is turning to internal betterment rather than external aggression and so the possibility of his seeking a private meeting with Malenkov is strengthened if he is unable to arrange a broader conference. He spoke of the need “to wait development in a hopeful and helpful mood”. “Studying our own strength and that of Europe under the massive American shield, I do not find it unreasonable or dangerous to conclude that internal prosperity rather than external conquest is not only the deep desire of the Russian people but also the long interest of their rulers.”
I think he is right in regarding that the attention of the U.S.S.R. is now turning to internal betterment rather then external aggression but his hope for a meeting to settle the outstanding problems is a little pre-mature. Time is not yet ripe for settlements.
- Alsop wrote from Taipei. He praised the Generalissimo in extremely high terms “Chiang Kai-shek beyond doubt is one of the great men of our time. Those who deny his greatness are fools or worse.” He has good words for Chiang Ching-kuo also—“Fortunately Chaing Ching-kuo appears to be a man of the highest capacity, brilliantly intelligent, hard as nails, absolutely honest, ruthless no doubt, but with exceptional abilities of the sort that are badly needed.” He spoke of cross-currents between Chiang Ching-kuo and Madame Chiang but said he is perhaps the strongest man after his father. Not a bad article from Alsop.
Received a letter from Dr. F.T. Cheng enclosing a short memorandum from experts of Wah Cheong on trade of Europe.