Memorandum: Minister-Counselor of Embassy in China (Clark) to the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth)

Date: Nov. 8, 1948, Nanking

Subject: Chinese Nationalist Government

Within the past few weeks, the Government's military power and economic position have so deteriorated that we seriously question its ability to survive for long. There is just no will to fight in Nationalist Government armies and in high official circles there is only befuddlement. . . .

Precisely when and exactly how the present Government will go is impossible to foretell. There are so many imponderables involved that no firm prediction can be made.

[ source: United States Department of State / Foreign relations of the United States, 1948. The Far East: China Volume VII (1948), page 552 ]

See -- FRUS page for full content