893.00/8824
The Consul General at Hankow (Lockhart) to the Secretary in Charge of the Bureau for Foreign Affairs at Hankow (Liu Ming-chao)78
Sir: I have the honor to bring to your attention another case involving an unjustified attack upon an American naval vessel by Nationalist forces. The U. S. S. Preble, while at a point about nine miles below Wuhu, on March 11, 1927, was fired upon by a group of soldiers, the vessel having been struck several times.
This attack on the Preble is the culmination of a series of unwarranted acts directed against American citizens and their property at Wuhu and in that region. Notwithstanding repeated assurances that adequate protection would be afforded to American lives and property in the territory under Nationalist control, depredations of this character are being reported to this Consulate General almost daily. On behalf of my Government, I desire again to enter a vigorous protest against these acts of violence and to request that adequate measures be taken at once to prevent their recurrence. American lives and property appear to be in constant jeopardy, and the American [Page 89] Government takes this means of expressing its great concern for the safety of its nationals not only at Wuhu and in that region but also in various other portions of the territory under Nationalist control. I shall be obliged if you will bring this matter to the attention of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Accept [etc.]
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the consul general as an enclosure to his despatch No. 360, Mar. 24; received Apr. 30.↩