893.5045/272: Telegram
The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 13—12:15 p.m.]
525. 1. It was not necessary to take the independent action indicated in the fourth paragraph of my telegram No. 89, December 10, to Tokyo,35 as the Japanese Minister announced at an informal conference with the British Minister, the senior minister, and myself that the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs had decided to consent to having the reports published subject to certain conditions regarding arrangements as to action by the Shanghai Municipal Council on the lines indicated in my 500, November 27, 7 p.m.
2. The diplomatic body at a meeting yesterday morning authorized me and my British and Japanese colleagues to approach the Shanghai Municipal Council through the members on the Council of our own nationalities with a view to having the Council adopt the following measures in order to settle the affair of May 30: (1) The responsible police officers should offer their resignations to the Council and that body should accept the resignations with expressions of appreciation for previous meritorious services; (2) reasonable amounts should be offered to the Chinese victims, such payments to be given not as compensation but as a compassionate grant. There is reason for hoping that these suggestions will be promptly accepted by the Council. It is proposed that when the senior minister is informed that these proposals have been accepted he will announce the arrangement and release for publication the report of June 24 by the diplomatic commission without annexes, the note by which the senior minister on September 15 informed the Chinese Government of the terms of reference and extended to the Chinese an invitation to take part in the judicial inquiry, and a summary of the findings of fact given in the reports of the three judges on the commission. At the same time the senior minister will announce that as soon as necessary copies can be made the reports themselves will be released in full.
3. This telegram is repeated to Tokyo.
- In this telegram the Minister proposed to publish Mr. Johnson’s report independently on December 15, unless arrangements could meanwhile be made for prompt simultaneous publication of the three reports.↩