The British wanted to throttle him. The very idea of a woolly-minded American standing on Asian soil denouncing imperialism inspired rage at the British Foreign Office. To the astonishment of the British, he did it not once but twice. At a banquet speech in Chungking, Wallace said, "In Asia there are political and racial entities now in a state of colonial dependency, whose aspirations to self-government should receive prompt and positive attention after victory." A joint communique issued by Wallace and Chiang Kai-shek expressed the same sentiment.