File No. 893.00/1414.
The American Ambassador to Great Britain to the Secretary of State.
London, August 10, 1912.
I have just received the Foreign Office memorandum, dated August 9, as follows:
His Majesty’s Government regret that reports that they have received do not corroborate the statements contained in your July 20 as to an improvement in the conditions in China or to the exercise of general administrative control by the Provisional Government: On the contrary, the President, Yuan Shih Kai, himself admits that the Central Government are unable to enforce the observance of treaty obligations in certain provinces of China. Further, His Majesty’s Government have no reason to believe that recognition would add permanently to the stability of the existing administration.