711.933/172
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Johnson) of a Conversation Between the Acting Secretary of State and the British Chargé (Campbell)
Mr. Campbell called upon the Acting Secretary16 to say that under instructions from his Government he desired to inform us that his Government hoped that we would not reach final conclusions with regard to instructions to Mr. MacMurray on the subject of Chinese extraterritoriality until his Government had an opportunity to present through him their reasons for the abolishment of extraterritorial rights by categories of cases rather than by geographical areas. He stated that he had in his possession these arguments and would like to present them at some convenient time.
The Acting Secretary asked me if I could see Mr. Campbell on the subject and I told Mr. Campbell at his convenience I would discuss the matter with him.
Mr. Campbell also stated that his Government had been approached by the Chinese Government to begin separate negotiations on this subject and his Government had replied that it could not agree to separate negotiations, that it thought negotiations should be undertaken in Peking and that it also felt that negotiations should be conducted jointly with the powers. Mr. Campbell stated that he had been instructed to ask whether we agreed with that point of view. Mr. Campbell was told that the matter had not been considered or settled yet but that we would be very glad to inform him on this matter before final instructions were sent.
- Joseph P. Cotton, Under Secretary of State.↩