893.51/2386: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Wallace) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 27, 9.10 a.m.]
1325. Following is translation of letter addressed to the Japanese Ambassador by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on August 23rd relative to the Chinese consortium.
“Under date of July 7th last His Excellency, Mr. Matsui,50 was advised that the Government of the Republic gave its adhesion to the formula suggested by the United States Government to define the support which the Japanese, French, American and British Governments agreed to give to the groups constituting the financial consortium in China.
The solution of this interlocutory question justified the hope that the consortium might become effective and begin its long delayed operations. However, the Government of the Republic has been advised that a fresh difficulty has arisen. It appears indeed that the Japanese financial delegates have made request of the allied financial groups that their rights and options possessed by Japan in Manchuria and Mongolia be excluded from the arrangements provided in the consortium agreement.
The Government of the Republic feels compelled to point out that such an exclusion assumes a political character and can neither be raised nor settled by the financial groups independently of the Governments.
It esteems, in so far as it is concerned, that this exclusion is not justified at the present moment and that it was under control [of] the policy followed by the Allied and Associated Governments in regard to China. They have indeed manifested their firm intention of opening the whole of China to the scope of the international consortium and of no longer favoring in that country the creation of special status [spheres?] of influence, the first effect of which would be to impede their efforts towards putting end to divisions between the Chinese parties. The Government of the Republic, therefore, hopes that the Japanese Nation will be pledged to give such instructions to the Japanese financial delegates as will cause the latter to relinquish [Page 480] their request, that similarly to the British, French and American representatives they will bring [into] the consortium all their rights and options according to the stipulations provided by the agreement reached at the meetings held by the groups on the 11th and 12th of May last at Paris.”
Copy sent American Embassy London as Embassy’s number 261.
- Keishiro Matsui, Japanese Ambassador in France.↩