500.A 4e 1/54: Telegram
The Minister in China (Schurman) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 20—7:38 a.m.]
86. Your 55, March 18, 5 p.m. You will since have received my 83, March 18, 5 p.m., and 84, March 19, at 10 a.m., which show that [Page 516] neither I nor any of my colleagues have committed our Governments in any way or indicated what their position might be with respect to Koo’s proposal for a preliminary conference.
I had received visits from representatives of the Government as well as from Acting Governor Chang, Bank of China, urging me to support the proposal and recommend it to my colleagues, and I listened to them all, asked questions, and remained absolutely noncommittal. Privately, I considered Koo’s proposal impossible of acceptance but thought it might possibly be used to bring about a financial show-down. …
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