I have the honour to convey to you my compliments and high esteem
of the policy of His Majesty's Government of the Commonwealth of
Australia, under your leadership, in endeavouring to achieve peace
with justice throughout the world. On behalf of my Government I
wish to assure you of China's readiness to collaborate with
Australia to maintain law and order in the Pacific.

With reference to our conversation in regard to the question of
exchanging diplomatic representatives between Pacific nations, I
consider that should the plan be fully realised, the elimination
of misunderstandings and international co-operation would be
accelerated. The aim of China's international policy has always
been to achieve the coexistence and co-prosperity among the family
of nations. No country would extend warmer welcome and reciprocate
more sincerely than China if Australia is to send a Minister
there. I was instructed by my Government to express such a view
and to assure every possible facilitation China could give.

The peoples of your great country and of China have enjoyed a
cordial relationship for more than a century. Between His
Majesty's Government of the Commonwealth of Australia and the
Government of China, happy official relations have been existing
since 1908, when the Chinese Consulate-General was first
established in this smiling land. In pioneer days, my people who
were here helped in your struggle to conquer nature to build a
solid foundation suitable for settlement. Twenty five years ago
when 150,000 industrious and hard-working sons of China met the
gallant soldiers of Australia in the battle-fields of Europe
jointly defending liberty of mankind, the vital importance and the
great future of this country was fully recognised by China. Six
years ago, when Australia appointed a trade commissioner to China
[1], trade relations between our two countries were brought to the
highway of development.

As much as we have such cordial relationships, it is undoubtedly a
fact that there is room for us to bring it closer. Australia and
China are similar in this that both countries are in the making as
modem nations in the Pacific since the last European war. A closer
tie between Australia and China will not only lead to mutual
benefit, but together with other friendly powers, will form a
cornerstone of peace in the Pacific.

Your Government is to be congratulated in having appointed a
Minister to Washington [2] and, according to press reports, in
planning to send one to Tokyo. Australia-America co-operation is
vitally important to the solution of the Pacific problems. Pacific
problems become thorny mainly because of Japan's misunderstanding
of her neighbours, and if your plan to exchange diplomatic
representatives with that country is successful, it would help to
cure this 'disease'.

However, as I mentioned in our conversation, co-operation between
Pacific nations would not be successful and peace with justice
could never be achieved, should China be ignored. The value of
China's contribution to make democracy safe in the Pacific by
means of engaging the Japanese can never be over-emphasised. China
will never vanish, because she is a civilization. A civilization
that existed for thousands of years and is still flourishing can
never be wiped out by tanks, battleships and aeroplanes. China's
present war of resistance is but her means to an end, which is to
achieve national reconstruction. Events of the past two years and
seven months convinced us that we are not far from our goal. We
must, however, depend upon co-operation and assistance from
friendly powers, so as to enable us to maintain the principle of
equality of opportunity in China for the advancement of
civilization of mankind. Time has become matured for the exchange
of diplomatic representatives between Australia and China, not
only for the purpose to bring our relations closer, but also to
complete Australia's plan for the maintenance of peace with
justice in the Pacific.

If Australia were to send a Minister to Japan without
simultaneously appointing one to China, China's enemy may
fabricate stories which may not justify the traditional cordial
relations between Australia and China. The world has become such
that the problem of peace is no longer divisible. Not that China
would misunderstand Australia, but the Sino-Australian relations
would be alienated by any such step that may be mistaken as
ignoring my country. Forty years ago, John Hays, one-time
Secretary of State of the United States of America, said that
whoever understands China socially, culturally, economically and
politically holds the key of the world for the next five hundred
years. I like Australia and China to know each other better. I
hope that the exchange of diplomatic representatives between our
two countries would be realised simultaneously with that of
Australia and Japan.

As to the present conditions in China, I submitted a report a few
weeks ago to Sir Henry Gullett. [3] In Chungking today, most
leading nations have their embassies and legations. It would not
be difficult for Australia to establish her legation there if she
is prepared to do so. I shall be grateful if I can be advised as
to your Government's plan in regard to this matter. My Government
is anxiously waiting to hear my report. [4]

C. J. PAO