701.4193/77
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hornbeck)
The British Ambassador came to my office and opened the conversation with reference to a conversation which we had had at his Embassy on July 2, 1936. He said that he had informed his Foreign Office of that conversation and had received from them a statement that the removal of the British Embassy from Peiping to Nanking would not take place in the near future. Plans were under way for an ultimate removal, as indicated in the answer given to the question in the House of Commons. The Ambassador said that the question and answer relating to this matter in the House of Commons had been in the category called “printed questions” and that this indicated that the matter was regarded in London as in no way of any urgent importance.
I asked whether the Foreign Office had said anything in reply to my suggestion about keeping in close touch in regard to plans or decisions in relation to the subject of changes in the establishments in North China. The Ambassador replied that they had said nothing on that point but that he assumed that the two foreign offices would proceed in the spirit of reciprocal and mutual helpfulness in that connection.