500.A4e/652
The British Embassy to the Department of State
Aide-Memoire
His Majesty’s Government have noted with great interest the correspondence that has passed recently between the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Canton Government on the one part, and the United States Consul-General at Canton and the United States Minister at Peking on the other in regard to the proceedings of the Chinese Customs Tariff Conference and other matters relating to the status of the Canton Government.
Copies of this correspondence were published in the Peking and Tientsin Times of the 21st July and in the Hong Kong Daily Press of the 5th July last, and consist in a telegram sent apparently on July 20th by Mr. Eugene Chen to the American Minister at Peking21 and in Mr. MacMurray’s reply thereto,22 as also in a letter addressed on 30th June last by the American Consul General at Canton to Mr. Eugene Chen and the latter’s reply dated July 2nd.23
His Majesty’s Government are interested in this exchange of views not only because they were participators with the United States Government in the tariff negotiations at Peking, which have now been suspended until an undetermined date in the autumn, but because they are themselves at present in negotiation with the Canton authorities for the settlement of the boycott of British goods which, for the past year, has caused very grave injury to the colony of Hong Kong and British trade in general.
It seems to them that this correspondence may indicate that the United States Government may be considering such important questions as the position of the Canton administration in regard to the central authority at Peking, the mutual relations of the two bodies as affecting the work of the Tariff Conference, and the prospects of that work in the future; and in view of the attitude of the Canton Government [Page 855] as revealed in Mr. Eugene Chen’s communications, they would be glad to know what course the United States Government intend to pursue as regards both the liquidation of the promises made in the Washington Customs Tariff Treaty and the resumption of general tariff negotiations, and on what footing they propose to treat with the Canton Government in the future.
His Majesty’s Ambassador would be grateful for any information that the Secretary of State may be able to give in reply to this enquiry on the part of His Majesty’s Government.
[Received September 20.]