Office of the Historian

393.115 China Foreign Trade Corporation/3: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)

Washington, April 1, 1939—1 p.m.

80. Reference Shanghai’s despatch no. 1994, February 10, 1939, and Shanghai’s telegram no. 250, March 29, 7 p.m., in regard to Japanese interference with property claimed by China Foreign Trade Corporation.40 Inasmuch as the American Consulate General at Shanghai believes the company’s claim to ownership of the material in question to be sound and in view of (a) the failure of the Japanese authorities to present any evidence tending to disprove this claim, (b) the long delay which has already occurred, and (c) the lack of any assurance that a satisfactory local settlement may be achieved in the near future, the Department desires that, in such manner as you may deem appropriate, you protest to the Japanese Foreign Office against the attitude of the Japanese authorities at Shanghai. Say that the American company has presented both to the American Consulate General and to the Japanese Consulate General the evidence in its possession in support of its claim to the ownership of the materials in question; that the American Consulate General has stated its belief that the property belongs to the company; that the Japanese authorities have refused to allow the American company to take possession of the materials but have not presented to the American Consulate General any evidence in support of their interference with the materials [Page 310] claimed by the American company; and that the materials, while in Japanese custody, have disappeared. Express the complete dissatisfaction of the American authorities with this situation and emphatically ask that steps be taken to disprove, to the satisfaction of the American authorities, the contention of the American company, or that prompt reimbursement be made by the Japanese authorities to the American company for the loss sustained by it through the disappearance of the materials in question.41

Repeated to Chungking and Peiping.

Hull
  1. Neither printed; they reported Japanese failure to issue a permit for removal of pipes weighing about 200 tons from local railway yards and alleged disappearance of pipes after the Japanese military took charge (393.115 China Foreign Trade Corporation/1, 2).↩
  2. The Japanese paid the claim of the Corporation for the material on November 18.↩