Office of the Historian

893.00/8193: Telegram

The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State

Peking, February 5, 1927—5 p.m.
[Received February 5—11:50 a.m.]

113. Your 41, February 3 [1], 5 p.m.

1.
Following telegram has been sent to American consul, Hankow:
  • “(1) Please deliver following on my behalf to the military representative at Hankow of Marshal Chiang Kai-shek requesting him to forward it at once to Chiang to whom it should be explained that I am adopting this method of communicating with him since I am unable to do so directly as I do not know his present whereabouts: (message here quoted is text as given in Department’s 31, January 28, 3 p.m., as amended by Department’s 35, January 31, 1 p.m. with the [Page 69] following heading: ‘By direction of the Secretary of State of the United States the American Minister has the honor to make the following communication’).
  • (2) Please tell Chiang’s representative that an identic message is being transmitted simultaneously to Marshal Chang Tso-lin.
  • (3) After conveying my communication to Chiang’s representative please give a copy to Eugene Ch’en ‘for his information’.”
2.
Following telegram has been sent to American consul general at Shanghai:

“February 4, 7 p.m.

(1)
I am transmitting following identic communication simultaneously to the respective commander[s] in chief of the Ankuochun and of Kuomintang forces with copies to Wellington Koo and Eugene Ch’en ‘for their information’ (same as above).
(2)
Please endeavor to convey copy personally to Sun Ch’uan-fang with expression of my earnest hope that we may count on his complete cooperation, without which, effort we are making cannot succeed.
(3)
I have been in a certain quandary concerning notification to Sun Ch’uan-fang. On the one hand if I addressed him equally with Chang Tso-lin and Chiang Kai-shek I would most probably offend the former, while if I ignored Sun there is probability of his taking offense. I have chosen to address directly only the two commanders in chief. I have just delivered the message personally to the Marshal this afternoon with the statement that it was desired to take the matter up with Sun in reference to the local situation at Shanghai. You may communicate so much of this to Sun Ch’uan-fang as you deem expedient from the point of view of obtaining his best cooperation in the effort the Department is making to secure the nationalization [neutralization?] of the Settlement.
(4)
Please inform commander in chief.”
3.
In view of the impossibility of direct communication with Chiang Kai-shek, I assume it necessary to fix a date for publication. Am giving message [to] press Monday morning, February 7th. Respectfully request Department to release same for publication simultaneously.
4.
I have transmitted copy of message to British, Japanese, French and Italian representatives and to Senior Minister with the request that the matter be considered strictly confidential until Monday morning.
5.
A copy has been sent to Wellington Koo62 for his confidential information.
6.
I delivered the identic message to Marshal Chang Tso-lin personally yesterday evening. He expressed himself to the effect that he was much concerned for the safety of the Foreign Settlement at Shanghai, protection of which he intended to assume [assure?] to his utmost; and that the Department’s proposal naturally met with his [Page 70] approval since his object was to avoid military operations in the Shanghai area, it being the Southerners who were attacking him in peaceful possession. Repeated to Tokyo.
MacMurray
  1. Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Peking Government.↩