793.94/9756
The Department of State to the British Embassy
Reference is made to the British Embassy’s urgent aide-mémoire of August 18, 1937, setting forth a proposal, which the British Government has instructed its representatives at Nanking and Tokyo to place before the Chinese and Japanese Governments in the hope of easing the present situation at Shanghai, to the effect that if the Chinese and the Japanese Governments will agree to withdraw their forces, including men-of-war, from the Shanghai area, and will both agree that the protection of Japanese nationals in the International Settlement and on extra-settlement roads should be entrusted to foreign authorities, the British Government will be prepared to undertake [Page 450] that responsibility if other interested governments will join it in doing so.
Careful and close attention has been given to the British Government’s inquiry whether the American Government would be prepared to accept with the British Government joint responsibility in carrying out the proposed action and would be prepared to instruct the American Ambassadors at Nanking and Tokyo accordingly.
Shortly after receipt of this inquiry, this Government received in a telegram from the American Ambassador at Tokyo information to the effect that the British Chargé d’Affaires at Tokyo had presented to the Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs the British Government’s proposal under reference and that the reaction of the Vice Minister to the proposal was of a character which could only be construed as unfavorable. There has subsequently appeared no indication of an affirmative interest on the part of the Japanese Government in this proposal. In the light of this evidence, it appears to this Government that the question of a possible assumption of a joint responsibility such as is envisaged in the British Government’s proposal has already been disposed of, adversely, by the attitude of the Japanese Government in regard to the proposal. However, toward avoiding any possible misunderstanding, it should not be expected that this Government would be favorably inclined toward any project envisaging military or police responsibilities over and above those which relate to the already existing missions of its armed forces now present in China.