393.1111 Nordlund, Esther/22
Memorandum by the Minister in China (Johnson)46
I called upon the Minister for Foreign Affairs today and presented to him an Aide-Mémoire47 reporting the capture by bandits of Esther Nordlund, Oscar Anderson and Augusta Nelson. I stated that the American Government would expect the Chinese Government to take [Page 958] immediate steps to effect their release, particularly as Miss Nordlund was an American citizen.
Dr. Wang stated that he had already been apprised of this unfortunate occurrence and that orders had been issued to the responsible authorities to take steps to effect the release of the captives. Dr. Wang stated that when individuals got into the hands of communists it was a very difficult matter as the communists set a high value upon captives not only because of the embarrassment caused to the Government but because of their high money value. He said that the Government was very anxious that we tell our missionaries not to leave the cities and travel about in view of the great danger of such happenings.
I said that we had already warned our missionaries not to travel in the interior but that they were apparently deceived by what appeared to be peaceful conditions and took risks.48
Dr. Wang stated that the Government’s policy in the suppression of communists had been a failure, that first they had tried to use local troops, but these were likely to make common cause with their fellow provincials. The Government had then begun the use of northern troops but these had failed because they were ignorant of the people and the terrain. He said that a third policy was now being adopted which he thought would be successful. He had urged it upon General Chiang. He said that the Kuomintang had started out with a campaign against landed gentry with the result that the responsible gentry throughout the country had become frightened. They had taken all of their liquidatable property and had fled to the cities such as Shanghai with the result that the interior places had been deprived of the leadership of such people. He said that the policy of the Government now was to encourage these people to return. He said that he believed this policy would be successful in the end although it would take a long time.
I said that the danger of this policy was that the farming population which had seized the lands of the gentry would be persuaded by this policy that the Government intended to restore to the gentry the lands thus seized and that the result would be that the farmers would make common cause with the communists against the Government. I said that I thought the thing to do was for the Government to win the support of the farmers by guaranteeing to them title and possession of the lands which they had taken, that the Government might then compensate the landed proprietors for the loss of their land by pension or by the payment of lump sums.
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Minister in his despatch No. 959, May 2; received June 11.↩
- Not printed.↩
- Release of the three missionaries was reported to the Department by the Consul General at Hankow in his telegrams No. 40, April 24, 11 a.m., and No. 59, July 6, 11 a.m. (393.1111 Nordlund, Esther/7, 24).↩