Plea

On the eve of China's ninth year of war, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek spoke to the U.S. Said the Generalissimo, at his first Chungking press conference in almost four years:

"Great progress has recently been made in cooperation with the U.S. [Lieut.] General Wedemeyer [Chiang's U.S. chief of staff] has made a distinctive contribution. . . . [Major] General Hurley [U.S. Ambassador in Chungking] has helped immeasurably. . . ."

But China needed U.S. economic aid. Military aid has been greatly increased, but economic help is still far short of China's needs. The Generalissimo hoped the U.S. would send more economic experts--"the more that come the greater will be our welcome. . . . Military and economic factors are equally important. If one is neglected the other will suffer. . . ." China's soldiers still needed weapons and supplies. In the Generalissimo's opinion, a properly equipped Chinese Army might shorten the war in Asia by a full year, cut in half the number of troops required to beat Japan.

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