861.77 Chinese Eastern/161: Telegram
The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State
659. Legation’s 630, July 25, 6 p.m.
- 1.
- Following from North China Standard,
Peking, August 1:
“China’s irreducible minimum in her forthcoming negotiations with Russia over the Chinese Eastern Railway was indicated by Mr. Sun Fo, Minister of Railways, in the course of an interview with Chinese pressmen in the Peking Hotel, Wednesday afternoon.38 After declaring that Russia would not risk a war with China on account of her international isolation and also because of her internal difficulties and that indications point toward early opening of direct negotiations, Mr. Sun went on to say: ‘What form the negotiations will eventually take has not yet been settled, but we can anticipate three possible outcomes: First, the ownership and control of the railway will be completely restored to China; secondly, the ownership of the line will remain jointly vested in China and Russia but the right of administration will be restored to China; thirdly and lastly, there will be no change in the status of the railway which prevailed before China took over the line recently.’
Continuing, the Railway Minister said that, while complete recovery of the railway should be the ultimate goal of the National Government, the greatest possible concession which China would make, if that could not be attained in the immediate future, would be to admit the joint ownership of the line, but insist on China’s sole control and administration. ‘The experience of the past few years has convinced us that joint control of the Chinese Eastern Railway is unsatisfactory and cannot satisfy the hopes of the Chinese people; moreover, the question is an international issue and I sincerely hope that the people will stand solidly behind the Government in the present difficulty.’
Mr. Sun further said that the Chinese Government was opposed to the joint methods of the United States, Japan, France and Great Britain, because that might result in the international control of the Chinese Eastern Railway.”
- 2.
- Foregoing has not been confirmed. Sun Fo left Peking this morning.