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4. It was, however, not so easy as this for
America to disinterest herself in China's internal
problems, in the settlement of which she had perhaps
strategic as well as economic interests. On December
15th, 1945, following public agitation over General
Hurley's resignation, President Truman issued a statement
of United States policy in China urging the cessation
of hostilities between the Communist and Kuomintang
armies, a national conference of representatives of both
sides, and the end of one-party government. He added
that United States' support would not extend to
intervention designed to influence the course of any
Chinese internal strife, and declared significantly that
American economic assistance would only be extended to
China as China moves towards peace and unity along the
lines described above.
5. At the same time President Truman sent
General Marshall to China as his special envoy, chargod
with the task of implementing the above policy, the
general lines of which were substantially confirmed in
the statement by the three Foreign Ministers at Moscow
on December 27th, 1945, which stressed the "need for a
unified and democratic China under the National
Government", and reaffirmed adherence to the policy
of non-intervention in China's internal affairs.
6.
In January, 1946 General Marshall was
instrumental in arranging a truce between the Kuomintang
and the Communists, but fighting subsequently broke out
again and spread. Dr. Leighton Stuart, a former
American missionary and noted educator, was appointed
United States Ambassador to China in July, 1946.
He and
/ General