893.102S/2163
The Consul at Shanghai (Butrick) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 6.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my telegram No. 560, June 24, 3 p.m.,99 reporting that, through an amicable agreement between the French and Japanese armed forces in Shanghai, the former would withdraw from and the latter would occupy, on June 25th, the “Special Military Area” outside the French Concession extending south of the Rockhill Avenue boundary of the British defense sector and including several church properties in Siccawei.
In accordance with this agreement, French forces were withdrawn from the area at 9 a.m. on June 25, 1940, and it was occupied by members of the Japanese armed forces.
The French Embassy in Shanghai is reported by the local press to have issued the following statement in regard to this matter:
“In 1937, the French military authorities here and the High Command of the Japanese forces operating in the Shanghai area agreed upon the establishment of a security zone around the foreign areas.
“Now that the French security area has served its purpose and that the reasons which prompted its establishment have disappeared, the same authorities, acting once more in complete agreement, decided to restore the normal status of this area.
“It must furthermore be emphasized that the occupation of the French ‘zone’ was the result of a de facto situation, and that it was not founded on any formal stipulation.
“The French authorities took care to notify in one time all foreign authorities concerned of the decision they had arrived at.”
There is enclosed a copy of a memorandum,99 prepared by Colonel DeWitt Peck, Commanding Officer of the United States Fourth Marines Regiment, on his conversation with Colonel Eissautier, the Commander of the French forces in Shanghai, in regard to this matter. The Department will observe that Colonel Eissautier stated that [Page 750] Major General Miura, Commander of the Japanese Gendarmerie in the Shanghai area, informed him that the French forces must withdraw from the Siccawei area. General Miura is reported to have added that if the French forces wanted to avoid combat Siccawei had better be surrendered. The matter was then referred, according to Colonel Peck’s memorandum, to the French Ambassador,2 and subsequently General Miura was informed that the French forces would withdraw from Siccawei.
It will be noted that Colonel Peck stated in his memorandum that he told Colonel Eissautier that he regretted the French had made this concession to the Japanese “because we are all Whites here, and a united front was our security; that this concession had weakened the position of all of us here.” Colonel Eissautier stated that the French forces in Shanghai would make no further concessions to the Japanese.
Colonel Peck included in his memorandum remarks by Colonel Eissautier in regard to the effect of recent developments in France on the situation of the French armed forces in Shanghai.
Respectfully yours,