893.74/761: Telegram
The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 18—1:23 p.m.]
744. My 524, May 6, 3 p.m.
- 1.
- Tsiang, Director General of Telegraphs, requests that the
following be communicated to Mr. Owen D. Young, Radio Corporation of
America:
“Thank you for your letter of the 26th April and that of Mr. Davis40 of the 28th April. Our Government is of the opinion that no result can be obtained from the tripartite conference suggested by you unless some understanding can be made previously between our Government, your company and the Japanese interest. This is the cause of the delay in our replying to the note of October 1926 of the Secretary of State regarding the said conference. As the result of my unofficial discussion with the Japanese interest over my proposals recently submitted to you, I wish to add two more terms in the said proposals: (1) the Shanghai station shall be limited to the capacity of direct communication with the United States; (2) the Chinese Government will employ in Shanghai station an American and a Japanese as chief and assistant engineers respectively and in the Tungchow station a Japanese chief engineer and an American assistant engineer. If your company will agree to my proposals they may form bases of negotiations in the coining conference which I suggest to be held at Peking. Mr. Davis mentioned about the outlay made by the Federal Company of Delaware as result of the previous contracts; our Government may agree to compensate the company for any reasonable outlays incurred by it. A certain sum may be put separately or added to the cost of the station in the new contract. Our present political situation will not very much interfere with our plan. As my proposals are just and helpful to the Chinese industry no political party in China will interfere [with?] them. After the conference in Peking and signing of a new contract with your company, bonds will be immediately issued and land, which under the new plan will be much smaller, can be secured without much difficulty and delay. The pass for devices [sic] will also [Page 475] be given at once. Please reply by cable and inform me of how much land required under the new plan.”
- 2.
- Copy mailed to Tokyo.
- Man ton Davis, general attorney, Radio Corporation of America.↩