File No. 893.00/1571.
The Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Secretary of State.
Peking, March 25, 1913.
Happy to learn of your assumption of the office of Secretary of State I beg to congratulate you heartily and assure you of my sincere [Page 99] wishes for your personal happiness and prosperity. I feel grateful for the renewed expression by the Government of the United States1 of sympathy and good will toward the Chinese Republic. Remembering with appreciation your own generous interest in the well being of my country as seen on the occasion of your visit to us five years ago as well as on other occasions, I cannot refrain from hoping with confidence that the traditional relations between China and the United States, always friends at heart and now sisters in liberty, will be even more closely cemented by your eminent hands and that the first step you will see fit to take in this direction may be to urge President Wilson, loyal to the glorious traditions of the United States, to be the first representative of a great and generous nation to introduce the Republic of China into the family of nations.