893.00/6224: Telegram

The Chargé in China (Mayer) to the Secretary of State

189. My 179, May 2, 4 p.m., and second paragraph my 186, May 13, 3 p.m.31

1.
Chang Tso-lin’s Peking representative states that Marshal Chang is coming to Tientsin on 27th or 28th May and probably to Peking almost immediately thereafter.
2.
Representative likewise states Chang Tso-lin intends to secure military control of Peking and environs in order to be in a position to head a government should Tuan vacate office. This military control to be obtained by substitution of Chang Tso-lin troops for Feng Yu-hsiang troops and attaching gendarmerie and police to Chang. Thus substitution seemingly now in peaceful progress.
3.
Impossible at this juncture to forecast under what guise, legal or otherwise, Chang might attempt to assume national leadership.
4.
Information obtained by military attaché strengthens opinion expressed in the second sentence of paragraph 2, my 179, May 2, 4 p.m.
5.
Repeated to Tokio.
Mayer
  1. Latter post, p. 632.