Annexes to Chapter VI: The Ambassador- ship of John Leighton Stuart, 1947-1949 116 (a) Statement Issued January 20, 1947, by the Ministry of Information, Chinese National Government 893.00/1- 2147 With a view to establishing constitutional rule and completing national recon- struction, the government has been consistently seeking for peace and unifica- tion. As far back as the beginning of the war of resistance, in order to pool together the nation's efforts, the government called the People's Political Council consisting of representatives of all political parties and independents. From start to finish, the government has regarded the Communist problem as a political problem. The Kuomintang at its tenth CEC plenary session in 1942 and eleventh plenary session the following year persistently advocated an early solution through political means. After May 1944 the government has been negotiating with the Communist Party without letup in the hope that a peaceful settlement could be reached. When the Committee for Promotion of Constitutional Rule met on March 1, 1945, President Chiang Kai-shek, being convinced that the Communist problem, if left unsolved, would constitute a serious obstacle in the way of national uni- fication and reconstruction, reiterated his determination of finding a peaceful solution without delay. He also proposed three steps leading toward constitu- tional government. After victory, President Chiang Kai-shek invited Communist leader, Mr. Mao Tse Tung, to Chungking for discussions. These discussions resulted in the Double Tenth Agreement with the announcement that negotiations would be continued on the basis of mutual trust and concessions so that satisfactory results will be achieved. Since the Political Consultative Conference last January, agreements have been reached between the Government and Communists on military and com- munications problems with the help of United States special envoy General George C. Marshall.These agreements raised hope throughout the world that the Communist problem in China would be solved through political means. The Government and Kuomintang, especially in the resolution of the party's second plenary session, repeatedly pledged support to the PCC resolutions and expressed their willingness to implement them in cooperation with the other political parties and independents. The failure of realization of the PCC reso- lution is due to the following factors: First, according to the Sino-Soviet treaty, the National Government should take over the administration in the nine northeast provinces. When the Soviet
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