Office of the Historian

793.94/8757: Telegram

The Counselor of Embassy in China (Peck) to the Secretary of State

Nanking, July 14, 1937—10 a.m.
[Received July 14—9:10 a.m.]

278. Peiping’s 228, July 13, 6 p.m.

1.
The Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs returned to Nanking July 9th. I refrained from calling on him lest my call be misinterpreted by the press which minutely records visits of all foreign officials to the Foreign Office and their supposed purposes. However, almost hourly telephone and personal contact has been maintained by Atcheson with Li, Director of Intelligence [and] Publicity, who appears to be playing an influential role.
2.
Fearing that my continued absence might also be misinterpreted I called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs July 13, 6 p.m. Brief summary of his remarks follows:
3.
The Minister confirmed that six Chinese divisions are proceeding northward on railway from Hankow and added that more were [Page 162] going. (We obtained from reliable military source information that the first division is proceeding north from Hsuchow by rail.)
4.
The Minister said that the fighting near Peiping had been provoked by Japanese demand to occupy Wanping July 7, noon, on trivial pretext of a missing soldier, that the Chinese garrison rightfully refused permission and that Japanese premeditation was shown by the preparedness of the Japanese who almost immediately opened hostilities. He asked my opinion regarding Japanese objective and I evaded by saying I could only draw inferences from Japanese activities in ’31, ’33 and ’35. I inquired his opinion regarding newspaper conjectures that the Japanese intend to consolidate their military and political position in Hopei and Chahar. He said this explanation seemed to be correct and added that Shantung was possibly included in the area but that the Chinese had no definite information about this as yet. He referred to published statement by the Japanese Government that mobilization had been ordered in Manchuria, Korea and Japan and stated that three divisions rather than two were on their way to China.
5.
The Minister said with great intenseness that war is “imminent” and that instructions had been telegraphed to Chinese diplomatic representatives in nations “specially interested in the Far East” to present the facts to the respective governments. He inquired concerning the plans of the American Ambassador and whether he intended to come to Nanking. I replied that I had been informed of the statement made by Li to Atcheson that afternoon (reported in my July 13, 3 p.m.) and had telegraphed it immediately to the Ambassador. The Minister said he had sent a similar message to the British Ambassador who is at Peitaiho. I asked what other diplomats had been approached and he replied that only the British and American Ambassadors had been asked as a beginning because if the request were widened he would have to invite some whose presence might be “inconvenient” and he named the Italian Ambassador. I said I could not predict the reaction of the American Ambassador but I felt that both he and the British Ambassador might regard their presence in North China as desirable and their return to Nanking as open to unwarrantable inferences. Alluding to earlier years I remarked that in the North the Ambassadors were at least “neutral observers”. The Minister admitted that the Ambassadors might hold such opinions.
6.
The Minister said that Japan is shrewd at selecting opportune moments for renewing activity in China. He supposed that Japan feels that the United States and Russia are preoccupied with domestic issues at present and that Europe is tied up with the Spanish problem.
7.
From what precedes and other indications it would appear that the Chinese assume that political groupings elsewhere hold good in [Page 163] the Far East, that is, that the United States and Great Britain have democratic systems and historical reasons [to] support China; that Italy and Germany have sympathy with Japan; and that Soviet hostility to Japan requires no proof but it is believed that Russia is resolved to avoid war for the time being.
8.
The Minister said that leading officials of the Executive Yuan had just returned to Nanking by plane and that [the?] other Government departments would return shortly.
9.
Sent to the Department, Peiping, Tokyo.
Peck