893.4061 Motion Pictures/130
The Secretary of State to the Minister in China (Johnson)
Sir: Reference is made to the Legation’s despatch No. 2739 of May 24, 1934,55 in regard to the censorship of amateur motion pictures.
[Page 625]In this connection it is noted that Counselor Peck is continuing in his endeavors to persuade the Chinese authorities to grant special consideration to amateur motion picture films. In the event that his efforts to attain that end prove unsuccessful it is suggested that he again discuss the matter informally with the appropriate Chinese officials and that in so doing he include a statement to the effect that, although the Department does not question the right of the Chinese Government to impose such non-discriminatory motion picture censorship regulations as may be deemed desirable, the present insistence of the Chinese Government on applying to amateur and non-commercial films of the eight and sixteen millimeter type a strict interpretation of the Motion Picture Censorship Law is proving costly to amateur photographers and, what is of more importance, a source of considerable inconvenience and irritation.
It may also be pointed out that, as far as the Department is aware, no other country has adopted similar regulations in regard to noncommercial moving picture films; that many countries annually expend large sums of money to encourage visits by foreign tourists who are the chief users of amateur motion picture cameras; that according to Chinese sources the annual income to China from the tourist trade is from twenty to thirty million dollars Chinese currency; and that to subject tourists who may desire to carry away with them some tangible evidence of China’s progress, such as for example a motion picture of Shanghai’s Bund, to the cost, inconvenience and delay of forwarding to Nanking for censorship personal and non-commercial films is likely to create in the minds of those affected the belief that the Chinese Censorship Committee has adopted a viewpoint which is neither reasonable nor one calculated to encourage the tourist traffic which has proven to be a source of great revenue to China.
Very truly yours,
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