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A Price for a Chance. If this report was true, Russia had in effect advanced her frontier to the Great Wall. The Chinese Communists were free to take any action they chose. But the Manchuria settlement was a gain for China.
For this, Washington reports credited the U.S. When news of the Russian terms to China reached the U.S. delegation at Potsdam, they insisted that the Chinese Eastern and the South Manchuria railroads become common carriers, free for all nations to use. The U.S. also insisted that the Open Door policy apply to Port Arthur and Dairen. Russia agreed.
In Washington, where Premier Soong conferred with President Truman and Secretary of State Byrnes, there was widespread feeling that China was dissatisfied with the Russian pact. This was by no means certain. For Premier Soong's treaty had won for Chiang Kai-shek a breathing spell in which China's Government could strengthen itself. How successful the breathing spell would prove depended in part on how much support—economic, financial and diplomatic—China would get from the U.S.