CHINA REFUSES REQUEST TO ALTER POLICY

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 September 1947, Page 7

CHINA REFUSES REQUEST TO ALTER POLICY

NANKING, Sept. 2. “China will not alter either her domestic or her foreign policy as a result of Lieutenant-General Wedemeyer’s visit,” said the Prime Minister (General Chang Chun), commenting on Lieutenant - General Wedemeyer’s fact-finding mission for President Truman. “There were many things Lieutenant-General Wedemeyer did not know and did not find out,” said General Chang. He made the charge that although he had met Lieutenant-General Wedemeyer several times they had hel(i no serious discussions. “The general paid more attention to people outside the Government than to those in it. There were many people who wanted to see him and who failed to do so,” he said. General Chang claimed that many of the reforms suggested in the-state-

ment. which Lieutenant-General Wedemeyer made on leaving China Had.been effected before his visit. Other changes had' already been provided for and there were some which must be made step by step according to a schedule already decided on by the Chinese Government. “We know we have a lot to learn from the United States and the Western countries, but changes m China involve many difficult processes and there -are obstacles in the shape of old customs, systems, and procedures,” said General Chang.