CO129-619-1 Parliamentary delegation to China 1-9-1947 - 23-12-1947 — Page 126

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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