393.1111—Lundeen, Anton: Telegram
The Minister in China (Schurman) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 16—11:50 a.m.]
449. My 436, November 4, 2 p.m. My British, French, Italian and Swedish colleagues and I called on Minister for Foreign Affairs today and presented a joint note35 protesting in strong terms against the kidnaping and continued detention by brigands in Honan of the nationals of our respective countries. We pointed out that the failure of the Chinese Government to carry out its obligation to afford protection to foreigners in Honan and the continued detention of our nationals in captivity must inevitably awaken grave doubt regarding either the will or the ability of the Chinese Government to discharge its primary and fundamental international obligation and we demanded that measures be taken to secure the immediate release in safety and the return to their homes of the individuals now held in captivity.
In presenting this note my colleagues and I emphasized the seriousness of the situation and stated that unless some definite results were [apparent omission] within a certain time we might see fit to publish the notes. Koo said that every effort was being made to secure the release of the prisoners and added that according to a message from Wu Pei-fu received today reenforcements have been sent against the bandits who are holding some foreigners including Lundeen and Forsberg.
According to reports from Hankow Borg-Breen, a missionary at Loshan, Honan, and his son, American citizens, have been captured by bandits.
- Not printed.↩