File No. 893.77/1553
Minister Reinsch to the Secretary of State
Peking, August 23, 1916.
Your August 12. Minister for Foreign Affairs privately informs me that no agreement exists giving Russia preference in region affected, but the Russian Minister insisted that his predecessor had once stated to the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs that Russia claimed such preference north of the Great Wall, and that as the Chinese Government had not refused in terms, its silence was to be taken as consent—a pretension which the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs does not admit.
Though the Chinese Government is not at present inclined to give attention to the reasoning of the Russian Minister, it appears advisable to hold in reserve a protest against the new Russian railway concession.