File No. 893.77/1602
The Secretary of State to the French Ambassador
Washington, May 1, 1917.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of April 27 [21], 1917, concerning the contract reported to have been made by the Chinese Government with an American group of financiers for the construction of a railway across the Province of Kwangsi.
Your excellency says:
Mon Gouvernement ignore si cette nouvelle est réellement exacte. Il me charge, en tout cas, de signaler à Votre Excellence qu’une telle concession serait contraire à un engagement formel pris vis-à-vis de la France par le Gouvernement chinois à la date du 26 septembre 1914, et d’après lequel nous possédons un droit de préférence pour toute construction de chemin de fer dans cette province qui est limitrophe du Tonkin.34
The Department of State on April 3 last received a cable message from the American Minister at Peking, stating that the French Minister there had informed him that on September 26, 1914, the Chinese Government had given him assurances to the effect that should railway or mining enterprises requiring foreign capital be undertaken in Kwangsi, the offer would be made first to French capitalists.
It appears, however, that the assurances mentioned were kept secret and in view of other assurances repeatedly given by the Republic of France to this Government of adherence to the policy of the open door and of equality of commercial opportunity in China for the citizens of all nations, I instructed the American Minister in Peking that a secret note covering privileges granted without a quid pro quo could not operate to defeat contractual rights obtained from the Chinese Government in due form.
I have the honor, therefore, to request your excellency to bring to the attention of your Government this conviction of the American Government.
I should regret exceedingly to find our Governments at variance on this question of the policy of the open door in China in regard to which hitherto they have been in such hearty accord.
Accept [etc.]
- See translation in preceding paper, second paragraph.↩