393.115/297: Telegram
The Consul General at Shanghai (Lockhart) to the Secretary of State
[Received 9:03 p.m.]
762. My 738, May 31, 7 p.m., transmitting Tokyo’s 338, May 31, 5 p.m.10
On the occasion of my call on Mr. Tani10a yesterday and at a later interview with the Japanese Consul General, I took occasion to bring to their attention the fact that Ambassador Grew had, under instructions from the Secretary of State, made strong representations at Tokyo on May 31 in connection with the action of the Japanese military in refusing to permit American citizens in China to reenter and reoccupy their properties in the Japanese-occupied areas. I cited particularly the property of the Shanghai University and stated that this case illustrates the persistent interference of the Japanese military with the rights of American citizens in China. Other specific instances were cited such as the inaccessibility of American business properties on Point Island and other places in the Shanghai area. I also referred to the adverse effect on American business and missionary enterprises in the Yangtze Valley occasioned by the obstructive tactics of the Japanese military and endeavored to show the urgent necessity for some modification in the present restrictions. The conversation was based on the lines set forth in the Department’s instruction to Ambassador Grew on this subject and I expressed the hope that the Japanese authorities here would realize that the situation needs urgent attention and that they would cooperate toward removing the obstacles now in the way of the normal conditions of American business and missionary enterprises. A mail despatch will follow. Repeated to Hankow and Peiping. Code text by mail to Tokyo.