893.12/44
Memorandum by the Minister in China (Johnson) of a Conversation With the Director of the Chinese National Quarantine Service (Wu Lien-teh)29
Dr. Wu called upon me today at the Country Hospital. He referred to his present position as head of the new national quarantine service and said that he very much desired that there should not be any misunderstanding about the new service which he was organizing. He said that there was need for improvement in the present method of handling quarantine matters and that they intended to institute reforms. He said he had just received a very cordial letter from Surgeon-General Cumming30 of the U. S. Public Health Service. He gave me the letter to read.31 In it the Surgeon-General congratulated Dr. Wu Lien-teh upon his assumption of this new work and promised to cooperate with him in every way to make his work a success.
I told Dr. Wu I hoped that he would not push matters too fast, that everyone had become accustomed to a certain method of handling quarantine matters in China and I hoped that any changes that were to be made would be made slowly.