After the Lugou Bridge Incident, China's War of Resistance Against Japan entered the strategic defense stage. At this stage, the Kuomintang army and the Japanese army successively fought bloody battles in Songhu, Taiyuan, Xuzhou, Wuhan and other places.
As the Japanese army continues to invade and expand China, Guangzhou and Wuhan have successively lost, the Kuomintang army has retreated step by step, with huge casualties. The Kuomintang government hopes to obtain substantial assistance from the United States as soon as possible.
In September 1938, the Kuomintang government appointed Hu Shi, who had never received political and diplomatic training, as the ambassador to the United States. This decision by the Kuomintang government mainly includes the following reasons.
First of all, judging from the relationship between Hu Shi and Chiang Kai-shek , although Hu Shi intends to avoid politics, in fact, with the development of the current situation, Hu Shi is increasingly involved in the political whirlpool and willing to be Chiang Kai-shek's independent "faith minister". After the September 18th Incident, Hu Shi advocated negotiations with Japan through international mediation. In addition to the influence of his early pacifist ideas, Hu Shi's remarks on avoiding war and seeking peace were the main reason for Hu Shi's remarks that he believed that the Chinese military power was far from being able to resist Japan at that time.
This is Hu Shi's strict adherence to his responsible and meticulous remarks, although it is incompatible with the mainstream of the Chinese people's demand for the War of Resistance at that time, and was criticized and criticized by all walks of life. However, this is quite similar to Chiang Kai-shek's policy of "to calm the country before fighting foreign countries." After the outbreak of the Gouqiao Incident, Hu Shi continued to advocate the greatest peace efforts, but Japan's increasingly brutal aggression against China made Hu Shi realize that local compromises and concessions were not enough to curb Japan's ambitions. Therefore, Hu Shi took the view that "harmony is a hundred times more difficult than war" and then put forward the policy of "struggle and wait for change".
After the signing of the Hemei Agreement in 1935, Hu Shi gradually realized that a nation that cannot save itself will not receive sympathy and assistance, but Hu Shi still has a peaceful fantasy in his heart.
1937 In November 201937, the Kuomintang government began to move westward, and in December, Nanjing fell. During the mediation of the Sino-Japanese War by Todman, Ambassador to , Germany, to China, during which Todman, some pro-Japanese factions in the Kuomintang government also advocated compromise with Japan. Hu Shi opposed this and advocated "struggle".
On December 4, 1938, Hu Shi delivered a speech entitled "Japanese War in China" in New York. He explained the policy of "struggling to change".
He believes that if China wants to achieve the final victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, it must rely on two conditions; first, China must continue to fight, and has no choice but to continue to fight.
Second, in China's protracted war, perhaps one day the international situation will change to be beneficial to China and not to Japan. Hu Shi firmly believed that China's War of Resistance Against Japan would definitely be supported by international justice forces, and Hu Shi had turned into an active and proactive proposition to the War of Resistance.
This is similar to the "confrontation theory" adopted by Chiang Kai-shek after the July 7 Incident , and the relationship between the two has gone from far to near.
Secondly, the Kuomintang government values Hu Shi's political influence in the United States.
Faced with Japan's ever-expanding ambitions, on September 4, 1937, the Kuomintang government appointed Hu Shi as a special envoy of informal diplomatic envoy to conduct extensive speeches and publicity activities in many European and American countries.
1937 On October 1, 1937, Hu Shi delivered a speech entitled "China's Expectations for the United States in the Current Crisis" on the Columbia Radio, San Francisco, California. He warned the US government against the widespread isolationist sentiment in the United States: Can the United States really stay away from war by relying solely on peace-loving and neutrality?
He firmly pointed out that China's expectations for the United States, and even the expectations of the entire civilized world, are that the United States can truly play an active leadership role in international peace and justice, prevent the occurrence of war, actively call for the cessation of war of aggression, formulate plans for friendly cooperation with democratic countries in the world, achieve collective security, and make this world safe enough for mankind at least.
In his speech, Hu Shi also exposed Japan's brutal acts in launching a war of aggression against China, indicating that China has the determination to persist in the war with Japan to the end, and called on the international community to actively provide assistance to China.
On June 24, 1938, Hu Shi delivered a speech entitled "What can the United States do in the Far East situation" in New York. He said that the Chinese people have been doing their best to resist the invaders and fight for the survival of the entire nation. The whole world has witnessed this great effort, but the flesh and blood of human beings is limited compared to the much superior mechanical equipment.
In order to shorten the time of this terrifying war, restore the international order of the entire Pacific region, and relieve the pain of millions of people, some active international actions are absolutely necessary.
Although Hu Shi is a representative of a weak country and a civilian status, he dares to uphold his principles and is able to argue for the country when China is at a disadvantage. His informal diplomacy introduces the world to the brutal war of aggression launched by Japan in China, and strengthens the United States' understanding and sympathy for China's war of resistance.
Finally, Chiang Kai-shek was dissatisfied with the work of Wang Zhengting, then ambassador to the United States, because Wang Zhengting made many stupid mistakes during his tenure.
In the first few months of the War of Resistance Against Japan, he reported to the Chinese government that he received a loan of tens of millions of dollars from the United States, but it was not cashed out.
When the Chinese government retreated to Wuhan, he said in a telegram that he had negotiated a $250 million loan with some U.S. banks, and that once the Chinese government approves the deal, it can obtain the loan.
But before the Executive Yuan meeting passed the deal, a British adviser revealed to the KMT government's executive director and finance minister Kong Xiangxi that the deal may be unreliable because only two American financial groups are likely to bear such a huge loan. One is ‘JP. Morgan’; the other is ‘Kuhn Loeb’.
Wang Zhengting's report does not have these two companies, and other financial groups cannot have such financial resources. The result was as predicted by the British adviser, so the government decided to remove Wang Zhengting. At the same time, Chiang Kai-shek called Hu Shi, hoping that he would agree to serve as ambassador to the United States.
Moreover, Hu Shi has many friends in the United States and has a high prestige. US President Roosevelt especially likes him because on the 300th anniversary of the founding of Harvard , he is the only Chinese among the 60 people who have obtained the Harvard honorary degree . President Roosevelt is a graduate of Harvard University , so he praises the people he praises.
Hu Shi's speeches in Europe, the United States and other places as an unofficial representative revealed the crimes of Japanese imperialism and praised the Chinese nation's fearless spirit of opposing foreign aggression. Hu Shi's informal diplomacy achieved positive results, and Hu Shi's prestige in the United States, which made Chiang Kai-shek finally decide to send Hu Shi to the United States to serve as ambassador to the United States.
1938 On July 20, 1938, Hu Shi, who was in France, received the first telegram from Chiang Kai-shek appointed him as ambassador to the United States. On September 17, the Kuomintang government officially announced that it would send Hu Shi as ambassador to the United States.
During this extraordinary period, Hu Shi decided to grant his life a mission to the United States and officially began his four-year career as an ambassador.
