
714 THE CHINESE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT, I937-I945
but any friendly association with the US, any wedge between the US and
the Nationalists, was desirable so long as
it
did not curtail CCP initiative
and autonomy. Whether or not this was a principal motive, the CCP did
in fact use restraint in areas where they might have come into conflict with
the Nationalists, and moved forward with prudent speed where such action
could demonstrate their effectiveness in the war against Japan.
The recall
of
Stilwell in October 1944 was
a
keen disappointment
to
the CCP,
for it
showed the continuing strength
of
Chiang Kai-shek's
influence over American China policy. Meanwhile, changes in personnel
-
Wedemeyer
for
Stilwell as theatre commander and Patrick
J.
Hurley
as
Roosevelt's special representative (later ambassador)
—
seemed unprom-
ising.
124
The
Communists soon made their assessment
of
Hurley,
who,
as
Roosevelt's personal envoy, seemed
to
have
a
special authority
to speak for the United States. Hurley believed that the CCP was not really
revolutionary;
he
had been told by Molotov himself that the Russians
considered them synthetic communists and would agree not
to
meddle
in Chinese domestic politics. Hurley was convinced that when the CCP
realized they could expect no assistance from the USSR, they would be
willing to make their peace with the Kuomintang. Conversely, the CCP
would be more intransigent
if
it believed
it
might obtain recognition or
support from either the Soviet Union
or
the United States. Hurley also
felt confident that
he
could persuade Chiang Kai-shek
to
accept CCP
participation in a multi-party government. More than once he likened the
CCP to the Republican Party in the United States
-
both were opposition
parties, each seeking
a
larger role in the country's political life.
Hurley's surprise visit
to
Yenan
in
early November led
to
the joint
drafting of a five-point proposal more sweeping in its language
—
partly
inspired by his fondness for the Gettysburg Address
-
than anything the
CCP had previously entertained. But when Hurley returned to Chungking
with this document, which
he
himself had signed, Chiang Kai-shek refused
to consider it. Hurley, in essence, reversed his field and disavowed the
proposals he had helped to draft. CCP disappointment over Stilwell's recall
deepened into disillusion with Hurley and the United States.
The political positions of the two Chinese parties had, however, been
considerably clarified. In
brief,
the Nationalists insisted that the CCP place
itself under the civil and military authority of the Chinese government as
124
Hurley apparently received only verbal instructions from FDR, and from the start operated
independently
of
the Department
of
State, which he held
in
considerable contempt. He later
claimed his mission was to prevent
a
Nationalist collapse, to sustain Chiang Kai-shek, to harmonize
relations between the generalissimo and the American commander, to prevent economic collapse,
to unify all military forces in China for the purpose of defeating Japan, and to promote internal
unity in China. See below, ch. 13.
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