861.77 Chinese Eastern/97: Telegram
The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State
[Received 1:45 p.m.]
620. Following from American Consul at Nanking:
“July 23, 3 p.m. Ministry of Foreign Affairs today informed me that China’s reply to Soviet Government’s second note is now being prepared, that the date of its despatch is uncertain as yet, and that its tone will be ‘peaceful’. I am reliably informed that a council of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in discussing the note yesterday characterized it as ‘conciliatory’.
So far as I can judge, the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs now appear to be less anxious over the Chinese Eastern Railway situation than they were before Wang’s arrival in Nanking.”