793.94/11840
The American Embassy in Japan to the Japanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Aide-mémoire
Indications have been given by the Japanese authorities at Shanghai that they intend to dispatch troops to occupy on December 1st certain buildings within those sectors of the International Settlement allotted for defense purposes to the American and Italian detachments, and that Japanese forces are to be transported through the International Settlement south of Soochow Creek to Nantao and other points beyond the International Settlement.
The International Settlement has a special status related to extraterritoriality and to the Treaties, and by long usage has been recognized as a neutral area. Those parts of the International Settlement protected by the “neutral” foreign forces have been set aside in the past by [Page 423] mutual agreement in plans for the defense of the International Settlement. The defense plan stipulates that any commander desiring to arrange special protection for his nationals in a sector other than his own shall first obtain the concurrence of the sector commander concerned. Under existing conditions, such concurrence might reasonably be withheld, as the introduction at this time of Japanese troops into a thickly populated area would actually constitute a grave danger to peace and order.
Entirely apart from the legal aspects of the action proposed by the Japanese authorities, it is earnestly to be hoped that the Japanese Government will share the view that the presence of Japanese troops south of Soochow Creek at this time must create new problems in the way of protecting and safeguarding other foreign rights and interests. With the huge Chinese population heavily augmented by refugees forced to leave the countryside, the problems of the authorities of the International Settlement are extremely grave, and notwithstanding all precautions, there may be expected to occur incidents likely seriously to prejudice the safety of foreign residents and otherwise lead to most serious difficulties.
In view of the fact that armed Chinese forces have been carefully excluded from the areas concerned, it would be appropriate if the Japanese forces were directed by the Japanese Government to abstain from entering the areas at this time.