File No. 862a.01/6
The Ambassador in Japan ( Morris) to the Secretary of State
Your telegram December 28, 6 p.m. The regulations were forwarded in the Embassy’s 854, October 4.1
Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs stated to the Counselor yesterday that the effect of this action is to replace military control by civil administration under the jurisdiction of Ministry of War of the German concessions now actually under Japanese military occupation, namely Kiaochow Leased Territory and the (?) Li hinterland and the right of way and appurtenant properties of the Shantung Railway. He further stated that misapprehension had arisen through the term for “civil administration” which in Japanese implies a form of government over an area under military occupation but which in Chinese characters and in English rendering seems to imply domestic administration as applied to integral portion of national territory.
This telegram is being repeated Peking.
- Not printed.↩