125.643/53: Telegram
The Chargé in China (Perkins) to the Secretary of State
710. Department’s 300, August 31, 7 p.m., paragraph 3.
- 1.
- The following is submitted as a tentative draft of a message to be
delivered by Consul General Cunningham at the ceremony as coming
from the chief of mission:
“The ceremonies observed today mark the return of an American consul to Nanking and the resumption in this district of those direct official relations between American consular representatives and the officials of the Chinese Government which were unfortunately interrupted some one and a half years ago. During this period those subversive elements of society which were the cause of this interruption have been suppressed. Though faced with numerous problems demanding solution China has acted with energy in asserting a determination to maintain the ancient tradition of a society which is fundamentally one of order and of social harmony.
The American Government has not failed to note the efforts which have been made in the direction of stability; and although it is fully aware of the difficulties yet to be surmounted by the Chinese people in the establishment of the system of government chosen by them over a decade ago, it looks with sympathetic interest on each measure of progress which China finds herself able both to plan and to execute. It was as an earnest of the faith of the American Government in the ability of China to achieve effective political unity that the American Government concluded with the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China on July 25, 1928, a treaty regulating tariff relations between the United States of America and the Republic of China.47
The cordial reception accorded today to the representatives of my Government, the honors given and received, and the friendly spirit of these ceremonies will, I am sure, be welcomed by the American Government as an indication of a genuine desire to maintain and promote those relations of mutual understanding which have traditionally existed between China and the United States.”
- 2.
- I should be glad to receive the Department’s observations on the foregoing, particularly with regard to the suitability of the sentence referring to the conclusion of the tariff treaty. Should the Minister have returned prior to the date of the ceremony, he may of course desire to modify the message or substitute another one.