File No. 793.94/241.
The Secretary of State to Minister Reinsch.
Washington , February 19, 1915—2 p.m.
We have received from the Chinese Minister complete statement of demands. The demands contained in Article V are not included in the statement which we received from the Japanese Ambassador. We infer that the demands contained in Article V may have met with such opposition from the Chinese Government that they were withdrawn before the shorter statement was handed to us. Please keep us advised as to negotiations, cabling at once whether the demands in Article V affecting the entire Government are being urged. Those demands if they had been made as demands would have aroused serious concern for they would have menaced the political integrity and independence of China and would have materially discriminated against other nations which are entitled to equal treatment.