Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1939, The Far East, Volume III

893.51/6942: Telegram

The Consul General at Hong Kong (Southard) to the Secretary of State

Hong Kong, July 19, 1939—noon.
[Received July 19—noon.]

232. With reference to the abrupt fall yesterday in the exchange value of the Chinese dollar, I have information from a Chinese member of the Stabilization Fund Committee that the Fund is exhausted. Information from the same source indicated that the French 2 million pounds which were about to be made available for the Fund have been withheld mainly due to the influence of the Tientsin incident and will not be made available without some form of British guarantee.

Repeated to Chungking, Shanghai, Peiping.

Southard