Press Release Issued by the Department of State on November 22, 193763
The Chinese Government having announced in a statement issued on November 20, 1937, the removal of the seat of the National Government as of that day to Chungking, in Szechuan Province, the American Ambassador to China, now at Nanking, together with certain members of his staff, will leave tomorrow for Hankow, where it is expected the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be established. The Ambassador and the members of his staff accompanying him will proceed by the U. S. S. Luzon, which will also take on board all American citizens who wish to leave Nanking. It is understood that the heads of other foreign diplomatic missions and members of their staffs will leave Nanking for Hankow at about the same time.
The Embassy at Nanking will continue to function. Secretaries George Atcheson, Jr., and J. Hall Paxton, and Clerk Emile P. Gassie, Jr., are remaining at Nanking to carry on the work of the office, including the rendering of assistance, if needed, to American citizens who do not wish to leave. The U. S. S. Panay is remaining at Nanking.
- Reprinted from Department of State, Press Releases, November 27, 1937 (vol. xvii, No. 426), p. 395.↩