I venture, however, to call attention to the fact that my letter of July
28, 1920, to American residents, which has received the Department’s
approval in this instruction, is more sweeping in its terms than
paragraphs 50 and 51 of the Department’s Instructions
to Diplomatic Officers of the United States, which appear to
leave to the Diplomatic Officers a certain latitude of judgment in the
granting or denying of asylum. By its present instruction, however,
(paragraph 3) the Department appears to be of the opinion that American
Diplomatic Officers and American residents in the Quarter are on the
same footing and governed by the same rules in the granting
[Page 344]
of asylum. To avoid any
possible inconsistency, therefore, I would suggest that my letter of
July 28, 1920, stand without further commentary and without the issuance
of a letter along the lines of the enclosure to this despatch.
[Enclosure]
Draft of Letter to the American Residents of the
Diplomatic Quarter in Peking
Peking, ___________________ __________1921.
Pursuant to instructions from the Department of State, Washington,
the following views of the American Government regarding the
granting of asylum to Chinese refugees by American residents in the
Diplomatic Quarter are brought to your attention:
Article 7 of the final Protocol concluded between China and various
foreign governments on September 7, 1901, provides that the Quarter
occupied by the Legations shall be considered as one specially
reserved for their use and placed under their exclusive control in
which Chinese shall not have the right to reside, and which may be
made defensible. Whatever may have been the original intention with
respect to the Quarter being reserved for the residence of foreign
Legations to the exclusion of private persons and interests, private
individuals of various nationalities, including a number of American
citizens, have from time to time been permitted to reside in the
Legation Quarter. In view of this situation, the Department of State
approves the Legation’s notification of July 28, 1920, to American
residents of the Quarter which reads as follows:
“July 28, 1920.
To American Residents
of the Diplomatic
Quarter,
Peking.
Gentlemen: Owing to the present confused political situation,
I have decided that refuge should not be given to Chinese
men seeking to hide themselves in the Legation Quarter. All
Americans, therefore, who reside in the Quarter are
requested not to allow Chinese men from outside to reside in
their business offices or dwelling houses. As to Chinese
women and children, American residents in the Legation
Quarter may use their own discretion.
(Signed) Charles R. Crane,
United States
Minister.”
It has been the universal practice of the American Government to
discountenance granting asylum by its representatives in foreign
countries as indicated in paragraphs 50 and 51 of the Department’s
Instructions to Diplomatic Officers of the
United States, which read as follows:
[Page 345]
[“]50. Asylum.—The privilege of
immunity from local jurisdiction does not embrace the right
of asylum for persons outside of a representative’s
diplomatic or personal household.
51. Unsanctioned Asylum.—In some
countries, where frequent insurrections occur and consequent
instability of government exists, the practice of
extraterritorial asylum has become so firmly established
that it is often invoked by unsuccessful insurgents and is
practically recognized by the local government, to the
extent even of respecting the premises of a consulate in
which such refugees [fugitives] may
take refuge. This government does not sanction the usage and
enjoins upon its representatives in such countries the
avoidance of all pretexts for its exercise. While indisposed
to direct its representatives to deny temporary shelter to
any person whose life may be threatened by mob violence, it
deems it proper to instruct them that it will not
countenance them in any attempt knowingly to harbor
offenders against the laws from the pursuit of the
legitimate agents of justice”.
The Department of State considers that the paragraphs mentioned,
although originally intended only for the guidance of American
representatives in foreign countries, should also govern the action
of American residents within the Legation Quarter at Peking, since
the Quarter is under the exclusive control of the Legations, and the
harboring of Chinese refugees within it, whether by the Legation or
American residents thereof, would be in contravention of the
provision of Article 7 of the Protocol of 1901 that Chinese shall
not be permitted to reside within the Quarter.
The Department of State particularly cautions against the giving of
assurances in advance to Chinese officials or others that they may
be afforded protection in the Quarter, should their lives become
endangered. The Department of State desires also to state that
whatever may be the practice of the Legations of other nations in
China with respect to the granting of protection to Chinese
refugees, the Department can neither approve nor sanction the
extension of this so-called right to such refugees, when to do so
would result in harboring offenders against the laws of China from
the pursuit of the legitimate agents of justice.
You are requested to take note of the foregoing and to be governed
accordingly in the event that the question of granting asylum to
refugees within the Legation Quarter should at any time arise.
