William Henry Donald letters, 1924-1948, bulk 1924-1946

William Henry Donald (also known as Duan'na, 端纳) was born in Lithgow, Australia, 1875. Mr. Donald went to Hong Kong in 1903 as a journalist for the Hong Kong Daily and China Mail (德臣報). He soon became the Managing Editor of China Mail and covered mainly events in China. He later also became an editor at the Far Eastern Review based in Shanghai where he reportedly exposed Japan's Twenty-One Demands on China to the western presses. In 1920, he resigned from the Far Eastern Review and began working at the new Bureau of Economic Information in Beijing. He associated closely with Sun Yat-sen and the Soong family. He was the adviser to the Young Marshal, Zhang, Xueliang. During the Xi'an Incident in 1936, Madame Chiang sent Donald as a mediator to negotiate for Chiang Kai-shek's release. Donald successfully convinced the Young Marshal to release Chiang. He later became an advisor to Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang. Donald left China in 1940 and toured the Pacific Islands. Subsequent to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was arrested in Manila by the Japanese army and held at the internment camp in 1941. He was release three years later along with over 2,000 POWs and civilian prisoners during the U.S. Raid on Los Banos. He briefly visited New York City in 1945 after his release. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1946. He returned to Shanghai where he was treated at the Country Hospital (華東醫院) and died on November 9th, 1946.