Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Address of the President to Congress December 4, 1917

File No. 793.94/587

Minister Reinsch to the Secretary of State

[Telegrams]

American Legation,
Peking , November 4, 1917, 11 p.m .

Japanese Minister has shown me the text of your note to Baron Ishii in which the American Government recognizes the special interests of Japan in China. While I understand that the reasons which prompted this momentous decision are confidential, I have the honor to ask whether at the time of publication of this note you desire me to present to the Chinese officials any explanation of this action which so profoundly affects their interests and which at first sight appears a reversal of American policy in China.

Reinsch