Henry L. Stimson Private Papers

Memorandum by the Secretary of State

The Chinese Minister called me up on the telephone to say that he had been notified that the Soviet Ambassador at Berlin had sounded out the Chinese Legation there as to whether they would meet in negotiation and the Chinese Government has instructed its Legation to say that it is quite willing. No answer to this last has yet been received from the Soviet.

I told Dr. Wu that I was very glad to hear this and that I was also very glad to see in the papers this morning Dr. C. T. Wang’s statement [Page 248] in respect to the attitude of China towards the Chinese Eastern Railway and other investments in China. I said that I thought this notification that China intended to respect these investments of private property would have a very good effect in this country and thanked him for calling me up.