702.6193/78: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Henderson) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 3—9 a.m.]
207. This morning’s papers contain in addition to the report of the raid on the Soviet Consulate in Tientsin a Tass communiqué to the effect that the Soviet Government holds the Japanese Government responsible for this raid and demands satisfaction. For this reason the Soviet Chargé d’Affaires in Tokyo has been instructed to make a strong protest to the Japanese Foreign Office. The Soviet Government “expects the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the guilty parties, particularly since the names of some of them are known and have been communited [communicated?] to the Japanese Government”. The Soviet Government also demands the return of the stolen property, compensation for losses and immediate measures for the protection of the Consulate.
Editorial comment in the Pravda and Izvestiya is sharp and abusive but does not give the impression that the Soviet Government intends to make a really serious issue of this incident or to take any position for the time being which would be apt to involve it seriously in the Japanese-Chinese dispute. The general tone of the editorials is that the raid represented another deliberate attempt at provocation on the part of the Japanese; but this attempt will not be forgotten or allowed [Page 316] in the long run to go unrequited; but that the Soviet Government will not permit itself to be provoked at this moment. A large share of the blame for the entire Japanese action in North China is placed on “the other capitalist powers” for having failed to take effective measures against Japanese aggression.