793.94/7613
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 31.]
Sir: I have the honor to state that Mr. and Mrs. William Allen White, of Emporia, Kansas, are now my guests in the Embassy in Nanking. In view of Mr. White’s prominence as an editor and author and his interest in political affairs in the Far East, on November 30 I asked and received permission to introduce him to Dr. Hsu Mo, Political Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Dr. Hsu Mo inquired what American newspapers Mr. White was representing and Mr. White said that he was editor of the Emporia Gazette and correspondent, on occasion, for the North American Newspaper Alliance, a chain of newspapers covering the entire United States.
Dr. Hsu Mo had evidently given some thought to the remarks which he made to Mr. White. Ordinarily Dr. Hsu Mo is extremely cautious, not to say secretive, in his observations concerning international relations. In what he said to Mr. White he was very outspoken in his denunciation of Japanese activities in China. This seemed to me strong evidence that the Chinese Government had almost reached a decision to abandon the “conciliation policy” toward Japan and to risk the fate of China on attempting to resist Japan’s inroads in the North by force of arms.
A very brief summary of Dr. Hsu Mo’s remarks is enclosed.63 A copy of this summary has been handed to Mr. White for nontextual use without ascribing the source, if he desires to use it.
Respectfully yours,
Counselor of Embassy
- Not printed.↩