FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA JOHN LEIGHTON STUART LAID TO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000530 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAO CH SUBJECT: FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA JOHN LEIGHTON STUART LAID TO REST IN HANGZHOU SHANGHAI 00000530 001.2 OF 002 Summary -------------- ¶1. (U) Nearly 60 years after departing his post, the last U.S. Ambassador to serve in pre-PRC Mainland China was laid to rest in a cemetery near Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang Province. The interment of the remains of former Ambassador Dr. John Leighton Stuart on November 17 completed a journey that began almost a century and a half earlier in the same city. At the interment ceremony, U.S. Maj. Gen. (Ret.) John Fugh, the person entrusted with fulfilling Ambassador Stuart's wish to be buried in China, spoke of Ambassador Stuart's vision for bilateral relations based on mutual understanding and respect. Ambassador Randt acknowledged that vision and noted Ambassador Stuart's legacy of educational exchange. The event received widespread positive press coverage and interest. End Summary. Interment Ceremony -------------- ¶2. (U) In a small, dignified ceremony, the ashes of former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of China John Leighton Stuart were interred November 17 in a picturesque cemetery surrounded by the graceful hills of Hangzhou. Ambassador Stuart was born in Hangzhou in 1876 and died in the United States in 1962; he was formally the U.S. Ambassador to China from 1946 to 1952, although he left China in 1949 shortly after Communist forces entered the then-capital city, Nanjing, and before the October 1 proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The event honoring the late Ambassador Stuart was attended by Ambassador Randt, the Consul General, Hangzhou Vice Mayor Tong Guili, several Zhejiang Foreign Affairs Office officials, and Maj. Gen. (Ret.) John Fugh and his wife. In addition, a handful of elderly alumni from Yenching University, the institution that Ambassador Stuart helped found and that later became Beijing University, were present. ¶3. (U) The ceremony began with Gen. Fugh's remarks about Ambassador Stuart's life, followed by remarks by Ambassador Randt and Vice Mayor Tong. At the conclusion of the ceremony, attendees laid flowers and bowed to honor the man who had devoted the lion's share of his life to service in China. (Note: As the ceremony began, a CD player, tucked in the nearby bushes, played "Amazing Grace" and "The Star-Spangled Banner." One of the gray-haired Yenching alumni, who started his studies ;in 1949, later confessed that the alumni had decided to play the music without asking permission.) Gen. Fugh Outlines a Lifetime of Service -------------- ¶4. (U) Maj. Gen. (Ret.) John Fugh, whose father was a close aide of Ambassador Stuart, was the first to pay respects. He told of the promise his father made to Ambassador Stuart before his death to fulfill Ambassador Stuart's wish to be buried in China. Although his father, Philip Fugh, attempted to fulfill this wish, he was not able to do so in his lifetime. Now, nearly half a century later, Fugh said, this promise was fulfilled: "Dr. Stuart and my father can now rest in peace." Gen. Fugh acknowledged and thanked the Zhejiang Foreign Affairs Office; Mr. Hu, Director of the Hangzhou John Leighton Stuart museum; as well as Ambassador Randt and the U.S. Department of State for making the event possible. ¶5. (U) Outlining the life of the late Ambassador, Gen. Fugh noted that Ambassador Stuart was born to American missionary parents in Hangzhou and in some respects considered himself Chinese. He dedicated his entire life to education in China and organized a number of small missionary colleges into Yenching University, which later became Beijing University. In 1919, he became its president, and he remained the University's until President Truman appointed him Ambassador to China in 1946. Ambassador Stuart departed China in 1949, before the Communists announced the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1 in Beijing. (Note: Then PRC leader Mao Zedong's denunciation of Ambassador Stuart as a symbol of failed American imperialism was later made part of the standard reading curriculum in schools throughout the PRC.) Fugh's parents cared for Ambassador Stuart until his death in 1962. ¶6. (U) Gen. Fugh highlighted how dramatically U.S.-China relations have changed over the past half century, noting their depth and complexity. He said that the fact that "we are able to grant the last wishes of an American who dearly loved China is a testament to enduring faith and cooperation between peoples and countries." Fugh called upon both Chinese and Americans to "live up to Ambassador Stuart's vision for what bilateral relations can be." He closed with a Chinese proverb, "qiu tong cun yi," urging both sides to "seek common ground while respecting differences." Ambassador Highlights John Leighton Stuart's Legacy SHANGHAI 00000530 002.2 OF 002 -------------- -------------- ¶7. (U) Following Fugh's remarks, Ambassador Randt highlighted John Leighton Stuart's legacy, saying Stuart used his ties in America to establish educational exchanges between Yenching, Harvard and other American universities. The United States and China both host thousands of exchange students each year, with tens of thousands of Chinese students in the United States currently. The Ambassador attributed these achievements to the early efforts of people like Ambassador Stuart. In addition, the Ambassador said that educational exchange is one of the primary foundations of a positive relationship, and Ambassador Stuart's return underscores the historic, close relations between the United States and China. Ambassador Stuart would have been pleased by the two countries' current relations, the Ambassador added. Hangzhou Vice Mayor: "Hangzhou is Stuart's Second Hometown" -------------- -------------- ¶8. (U) Vice Mayor Tong Guili spoke of Ambassador Stuart's childhood in Hangzhou, saying he was remembered as a child who spoke the local dialect and played with his peers in the neighborhood. Since he often returned to Hangzhou during his many years in China, it is "a safe assumption that Hangzhou is John Leighton Stuart's second hometown." Because of his Hangzhou background, Stuart's life became "inextricably intertwined with China." The Vice Mayor praised Ambassador Stuart for his lifelong affection for Chinese culture and for "dedication to the cause of Sino-American cultural exchange." She noted his "role in advancing China's modern education" and "people-to-people exchange," to which history has "already done justice." The Vice Mayor closed by saying that it is comforting to know that "Sino-American economic cultural and educational exchanges are continuing to increase." Positive Press Coverage -------------- ¶9. (U) Following the ceremony, the Ambassador and Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Fugh participated in a small press pull-aside as several members of the local press and an AP reporter asked questions about the event's background. Both AP and the New York Times subsequently ran articles about the historic significance of the event. In local coverage, both the Qianjiang Evening News (Party-owned, circulation: 700,000) and the provincial-level Zhejiang Daily carried the news about the ceremony. The Zhejiang Daily carried the story on its front page. Qianjiang Evening News used its entire local news page to print an article entitled "The Soul of John Leighton Stuart Returns to Homeland." The Qianjiang Evening News article has been reposted at more than 133 Chinese-language sites on the Internet. Showing further interest in the significance of this event in U.S.-China relations, Southern Metropolis Weekly in Guangzhou approached the Consulate with a request to interview the CG and Gen. Fugh to learn more about how the interment ceremony came about. The Consulate declined, but the interest of press and media elsewhere in China is evidence that Chinese media recognize the importance of the quiet "rehabilitation" of Ambassador Stuart. "A Journey Home" Courtesy of the Diplomatic Courier Service -------------- -------------- ¶10. (U) Ambassador Stuart's homecoming would not have been possible without the crucial contribution of the State Department's Diplomatic Courier Service. When Gen. Fugh finally received Chinese permission to bring Ambassador Stuart's ashes to China, he struggled with finding a way to ship the ashes via commercial delivery services. As the ashes were in a sealed metal urn, commercial delivery services were unwilling to accept the delivery order. Fugh subsequently contacted the Department, obtaining approval from the Under Secretary for Management Affairs to use the Diplomatic Courier Service. Couriers transported Ambassador Stuart's ashes from the Springfield, Virginia Logistics Operation Center via New York and Seoul to Shanghai, arriving on October 20. Ambassador Stuart's ashes remained at the Consulate until Fugh arrived in Shanghai and traveled to Hangzhou with the CG on November 16. CAMP