793.94/9704: Telegram
The Consul at Tsingtao (Sokobin) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 26—7:45 a.m.]
The attitude of the local Japanese Consul General is disquieting. He called on me yesterday and dwelt at length on the presence of the revenue guards (see my despatches of May and June) which he stated not he personally but his Government regarded as a menace to the peace of Tsingtao. He proposed that I ask Chinese to withdraw revenue guards for some distance and Japanese would withdraw some of their men-of-war. I declined to convey this request in view of (1) repeated statement of the Mayor to me in respect to his determination not to alter disposition of troops outside of Tsingtao and also his lack of authority over Central Government forces, (2) as well as my desire that this Consulate be uninvolved in unnecessary mediation, inasmuch as to date both sides have ostensibly observed their announced intention of nonaggravation of the situation and of maintaining the present peaceful status quo in Tsingtao.