793.94/5875
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 13.]
Sir: With reference to the Legation’s telegram No. 56 of January 16, 9 p.m., and previous telegrams on the subject of the situation in the Peiping-Tientsin area as a result of the recent Sino-Japanese hostilities at Shanhaikwan, I have the honor to transmit herewith eight memoranda of conversations33 I have had with some of my colleagues and with others between January 7 and January 17, 1933, as listed below.34 From these conversations the Department will observe that my French, British, arid Italian colleagues and I felt that in view of the gravity of the situation the question of possible mediation for the purpose of localizing the incident should be explored, but that we did not feel that mediation would have much chance of success. As regards the applicability of the Boxer Protocol, I informed my colleagues briefly of the main points in the Department’s telegraphic instructions No. 16 of January 14, 9 p.m., and they stated that the attitude of their respective Governments would probably be similar to that of the United States.
In my conversation with Mr. W. H. Donald, the adviser to Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang, and Mr. P. L. E. Dzau,35 I stated, in reply to their inquiries, that in the event of hostilities in this area the best means of ensuring that Peiping would be considered as an unfortified city would be for the Chinese to remove their military headquarters, barracks, and troops from it, and I assured them I was prepared to cooperate with the other members of the Diplomatic Body to assist in working out some means by which hostilities in or near the city might be avoided.
Mr. Hallett Abend, the correspondent of the New York Times in Shanghai, called on me on January 13th and informed me that in a conversation which he had had with General Nakamura in Tientsin the latter seemed very belligerent and stated that if the threat of Chinese mobilization in this area did not cease, the Japanese might be forced to occupy the Peiping-Suiyuan Railroad.
Respectfully yours,