893.113/1563
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 6.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Legation’s despatch No. 2309, September 29, 1933,21 in regard to the importation into China of arms and munitions of war for the armed forces of the United States, and to the Department’s instruction in reply No. 1244, November 24, 1933,22 approving the action proposed by the Legation, namely to reply to the Chinese Government, if pressed to do so, to the effect that the Legation would be glad to give consideration from time to time to requests of that Government for statistical information in regard to American armed forces in China, but that with regard to the request of the Chinese Government for information regarding the importation of supplies for such forces, the Legation did not find it practicable to obtain and submit to that Government in advance lists of such supplies, but that, as heretofore, where necessary, proper certificates would be made by American consular officers for the importation of supplies through the customs at the several ports.
Although the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not pressed for a reply to its previous note,23 under date April 20, 1934, it addressed a further note upon this subject to the Legation. A translation of this note is enclosed.21 Other interested Legations have received similar notes.
This note of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs encloses a set of regulations governing duty exemption on articles other than munitions of war imported into China for the use of foreign armed forces stationed in China, and requests compliance therewith.
The regulations provide: 1) that all applications for the duty-free importation of supplies for the foreign armed forces must be submitted directly by the forces concerned to the appropriate customs authority; 2) that so-called luxuries shall not be exempted from the payment of duty; 3) that supplies imported duty-free must be consumed on the premises of the military or naval establishment [Page 503] or vessel; 4) that a semi-annual report in advance of the requirements of all armed forces in China must be submitted by the Legation concerned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—provision is, however, made for supplement lists; and 5) that “duty-free privileges” will be withdrawn from any armed forces where they have indulged in malpractices.
Copies of the translation of this note were supplied by the Legation to the Naval and Military Attachés, and through the Consuls General concerned to the interested commanders of the various armed forces of the United States in China, and their comments were requested. Their replies, copies of which are enclosed,24 uniformly stress the impracticability of the regulations and their repugnance to the integrity of the various commands. Although each commander, depending upon the peculiar status of his command in China, has specific grounds for denying the right of the Chinese Government to interfere in any way with the importation of supplies for the use of his forces, the Legation is inclined to believe that Colonel Burt,25 in command of the 15th Infantry in Tientsin, has given sufficient basis for a complete refusal to acquiesce in the enforcement of the regulations when he says that he finds the regulations to be totally inconsistent with the fundamental rule of International Law that troops in occupation of foreign territory are wholly without the jurisdiction of the territorial sovereign.
There are also enclosed copies of memoranda of conversations between members of the staff of the Legation and those of other interested Legations in Peiping.24 From these memoranda, the Department will note that no Legation, other than the Japanese, has reached a decision as to the nature of the reply, if any, that they will make to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Each Legation concerned has expressed the opinion that it would be impracticable to comply with the regulations in their present form, but only the Japanese Government appears to have reached a definite decision in the matter.
From the memoranda of conversations with officers of the Japanese Legation (Enclosures Nos. 12 and 14) there would appear to be no doubt that the Japanese Government has replied to the Chinese Government categorically rejecting the proposed regulations for the reason that they represent restrictions imposed unilaterally by China without prior consultation with the interested Powers.
As no date appears to have been set for the enforcement of the regulations and as no complaints have been received from foreign armed forces in China, the whole matter appears for the time being to be [Page 504] quiescent. Each interested Legation has agreed to inform each other interested Legation when its attitude has been determined, but so far no one other than the Japanese has replied to the Foreign Office.
However, as these regulations would appear to represent a formal effort of the Chinese Government to assert an authority to impose regulations on the armed forces of the United States in China, the Legation believes that a reply should be made to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it believes that this reply should contain the mere statement that while careful consideration has been given to the regulations, they have been found to be impracticable.
We might add that, as heretofore, where necessary, proper certificates will be issued by the American consular, military, and naval authorities to cover importations of supplies through the customs at the several ports, and that the American authorities, being desirous of preventing any improper practices and any misuse of supplies imported for military and naval use, will give attentive consideration to and cause strict investigation to be made of any complaints of such improper practices and misuse of supplies which may be received from the appropriate Chinese authorities.
Respectfully yours,