In October 1934, the fifth counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression" failed. The Red Army was forced to withdraw from the base area and began a vigorous 25,000-mile Long March.
Chang Kaishen was so proud that he finally summoned Japan's Minister to China Ariyoshiaki, and publicly made remarks about "China-Japan friendship" to foreign reporters, which attracted a burst of outcry from all walks of life.
Japan believed that the time was ripe and sent an inspection delegation in mid-November. When visiting China, it even proposed upgrading its embassy, hoping to upgrade the two countries' embassies to embassies.
Diplomatic embassies are also divided into levels. The embassy is the highest level and the legation is the second level. Ministers can be appointed directly, but the appointment of ambassadors must be approved by the other country.
For a more detailed difference between the two, we can give an example: For example, Shi Zhaoji, the minister to the United States at this time, although he represented China in conducting diplomacy in the United States, he did not have the right to request a meeting with President Roosevelt, nor did he have the right to negotiate directly with senior U.S. officials.
, unless authorization was obtained in advance. Once the legation was upgraded to an embassy, Shi Zhaoji could request to meet with Roosevelt and negotiate directly with the United States.
In the early 1930s, the Republic of China did not seem to have established an embassy in any country.
Japan obviously has great "sincerity" this time, and it can also be said that it can't wait. Upgrading the embassy can speed up the diplomatic negotiation process.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ economic support plan is also very “sincere” and includes:
1. Provide human and material assistance to China as a “raw material supplier”;
Second, Japan has to buy China’s raw materials, and China has to buy Japan’s industrial products;
Third, China must suppress the anti-Japanese trend;
Fourth, if China needs to borrow money, Japan is willing to consider it.
In addition, Japan is also preparing to set up a 200 million yuan credit line in Shanghai to "smoothen" trade between the two countries.
When Chang Kaishen saw this plan for the first time, he almost flipped the table in anger. This is not "economic support". He clearly wants to turn China into a colony and Japan's raw material base and commodity market.
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But the show must go on, and Chang Kaishen's acting skills are at the level of a movie king. Before the negotiations between the two countries officially started, he showed his sincerity in advance and began to crazily suppress the domestic anti-Japanese movement. Even Zhou Hexuan's "Unoffensive"
” magazines were forced to cease publication.
Behind the scenes, Chang Kaishen sold the Japanese out and asked Finance Minister Kong Xiangxi to send a secret message to Shi Zhaoji, the minister in the United States, claiming that Japan was willing to pay a huge sum of money to help China cope with the silver crisis and would work together to deal with the United States. He proposed that Japan
The plan was sent intact, and Japan's attitude was relayed, "The Japanese believe that Western countries will never effectively assist China, and China will have to turn to Japan."
Japan also pretends to be similar and even launches domestic propaganda. Osaka's "Mainichi Shimbun" published Foreign Minister Hirota's "new policy towards China": If China is willing to fall to Japan, Japan will provide all possible financial support to China.
and economic assistance to liberate China from all international constraints.
For a time, both China and Japan launched a political propaganda campaign on "China-Japan Friendship" in their respective countries.
There was no response from the United States. The United Kingdom was the first to sit still and proposed "international joint loans to China", hoping that Britain, the United States, France, and Japan would help China survive the silver crisis.
Japanese Foreign Minister Hirota immediately objected fiercely, saying that the incident should be resolved by Asians themselves, and that European and American countries were not qualified to get involved.
While Britain and Japan were entangled, the attitude of the United States seemed very cold.
From August to November, Kong Xiangxi called Roosevelt five times in a row. The first four times, Kong Xiangxi almost begged, hoping that the United States would stop acquiring Chinese silver. The fifth time was much tougher. Perhaps Japan and the United Kingdom made Kong Xiangxi find
In order to gain confidence, he directly called Roosevelt and threatened Roosevelt: "If the United States still does not modify its silver policy, serious consequences will inevitably occur."
The United States was still aloof, not even replying, and refusing to start negotiations with China. In the end, it probably got impatient and finally called Kong Xiangxi back. However, the content was all in official terms and was perfunctory.
Roosevelt was actually under great pressure. He held several meetings in a row and finally came up with a compromise plan. He was willing to lower the international silver price to below US$0.55 per ounce and hoped to start negotiations with Chinese representatives as soon as possible.
Chang Kaishen was overjoyed and immediately sent a telegram, appointing Song Ziwen as the plenipotentiary minister, and asked Shi Zhaoji and Fan Heyan to assist in the negotiations.
It was already Christmas at this time, and it had been delayed for two months.
United States Washington.
Chinese Embassy in the United States.
Song Ziwen specially customized a new suit. He stood in front of the mirror to tidy up his appearance and combed his hair with a new hairstyle, preparing to show off his style at the negotiation table between the two countries.
Suddenly, Shi Zhaoji walked into the room quickly and said with a serious face: "Mr. Song, take a look at this!"
Song Ziwen didn't take it seriously and said coquettishly: "Mr. Zhi, look at my tie, it's not bad."
"I don't have time to care about your tie," Shi Zhaoji said with an ugly face, "The Americans are going back on their word!"
"What's going on?" Song Ziwen was shocked.
Shi Zhaoji took the official diplomatic letter and said: "The negotiations have been cancelled. The US Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that if there is anything, we can communicate by telegram."
Song Ziwen was stunned, randomly pulled off his tie and threw it on the floor, muttering repeatedly: "It's too much to bully others, it's too much to bully others, it's too much to bully others!"
It was indeed too much of a lie. The U.S. Ministry of Foreign Affairs took the initiative to invite China to send representatives to negotiate, and China appointed a minister plenipotentiary. They canceled the negotiations if they said they were cancelled, and asked them to contact us via telegraph if anything happened in the future.
"How could this happen?" Song Ziwen said depressedly.
Shi Zhaoji said: "It should be the Silver Group that put pressure on Roosevelt. The previous silver pricing of US$0.55 per ounce was also destroyed, and the Americans' promises turned into lies."
Song Ziwen said: "Is diplomacy such a child's play? How can we go back on our word and change our word?"
Shi Zhaoji smiled bitterly: "Weak countries have no diplomacy."
Shi Zhaoji had seen too much of this kind of thing. When he was in Europe, he was met with humiliation, and when he came to the United States, he was treated as nothing. Poor his dignified Chinese Minister to the United States, he has not received any formal greeting from Roosevelt since he took office.
receive.
Not to mention Roosevelt, Shi Zhaoji couldn't even see the US Foreign Minister, but could only meet with the minions of the US Foreign Ministry.
"What to do now?" Song Ziwen was at a loss.
Shi Zhaoji said: "Go to Mr. Zhou. He is the one who caused the big mess. He should know how to end it."
Just when Song Ziwen went to New York to discuss with Zhou Hexuan, Kong Xiangxi suddenly acted out of common sense and urgently called the U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs: China is about to abandon the silver standard and peg its currency value to the U.S. dollar. China is willing to sell 200 million ounces of silver to the United States within a year in exchange for U.S. support.
China loaned US$100 million and provided a standby credit line of the same amount.
Well, Kong Xiangxi’s intention is very clear. Doesn’t the United States want to buy Chinese silver? Yes. I exchange the silver for US dollars, and then use the US dollars as reserves for currency reform. The problems for both of us are solved.
When Zhou Hexuan, who was making trouble in the United States, learned the news, he could only use three words to express his feelings: Mom sells batches!