793.94/7609: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China (Peck) to the Secretary of State
160. 1. The Associated Press correspondent states that as a result of repeated inquiries by himself and other correspondents the Foreign Office last evening handed to him and representatives of foreign and Chinese news services the following statement with the stipulation that the source should not be published:
2. It has now been confirmed in Chinese official circles that a proposal for the fundamental readjustment of Sino-Japanese relations through proper diplomatic channels has been put forward by the Chinese Government to the Japanese Government which is said to have expressed agreement in principle.
The matter, however, is yet confined to a preliminary exchange of opinions between the Japanese and the Chinese Foreign Office and no discussions of concrete plans or any particular question has taken place, it is learned.
The Chinese authorities are said to be anxious to remove the utter confusion and irregularities that have characterized Sino-Japanese relations since the Mukden incident. The many and various questions that have arisen during the past 4 years have, it is admitted, often been dealt with in a makeshift manner which met only with the immediate exigencies of the moment. This lack of adequate consideration for a fundamental settlement is regarded to have culminated in an extraordinary state of affairs which is considered to be detrimental to the welfare of both China and Japan.
The present moment, being apparently deemed opportune, has therefore been seized upon to bring about the desired readjustment and to place the conduct of Sino-Japanese relations on a proper diplomatic basis.
- Telegram in two sections.↩