893.00 Nanking/244: Telegram
The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 30—7:57 p.m.]
Supplementing my telegram March 30, 3 p.m.
- 1.
- The documents constituting the settlement of the Nanking incident
consist of three third-person notes addressed to me as “American
Minister to China” by Hwang and my replies thereto in the same form
addressed to him as “Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nanking.” Each is
to be signed and sealed by the sender.15 The
following are the texts of my replies which sufficiently indicate
texts or tenor of his notes:
- (a)
-
“The American Minister has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note of this day’s date from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, which reads as follows:
[Page 332]‘With reference to the Nanking incident which took place on the 24th of March last year, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government has the honor to inform the American Minister that, animated by a desire to promote the most friendly feelings happily subsisting between the American and Chinese peoples, the Nationalist Government are prepared to bring about an immediate settlement of the case, along the lines already agreed upon as a result of the discussions between us beginning from the 26th February this year.
In the name of the Nationalist Government, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has the honor to convey in the sincerest manner to the Government of the United States of America their profound regret at the indignities to the American flag and to official representatives of that Government, the loss of property sustained by the American consulate, and the personal injuries and material damages done to the American residents. Although it has been found, after investigation of the incident, that it was entirely instigated by the Communists prior to the establishment of the Nationalist Government at Nanking, the Nationalist Government nevertheless accepts the responsibility therefor.
The Nationalist Government have in pursuance of their established policy, repeatedly issued orders to the civil and military authorities for the continuous and effective protection of the lives and property of American residents in China. With the extermination of the Communists and their evil influences which tended to impair the friendly relations between the Chinese and American peoples, the Nationalist Government feel confident that the task of protecting foreigners will henceforth be rendered easier; and the Nationalist Government undertake specifically that there will be no similar violence or agitation against American lives or legitimate interests.
In this connection, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has the pleasure to add that the troops of the particular division which took part in the unfortunate incident, at the instigation of the Communists, have been disbanded. The Nationalist Government have in addition taken effective steps for the punishment of the soldiers and other persons implicated.
In accordance with the well-accepted principles of international law, the Nationalist Government undertake to make compensation in full for all personal injuries and material damages done to the American consulate and to its officials and to American residents and their property at Nanking.
The Nationalist Government propose that for this purpose there be a Sino-American Joint Commission to verify the actual injuries and damages suffered by the American residents at the hands of the Chinese concerned, and to assess the amount of compensation due in each case.’
In the full realization of the inherent justice and honor of the Chinese people when not affected by the incitations of subversive influences, and with a deep appreciation of the sorrow and humiliation caused to all elements of that people by the Nanking incident, and believing that the earnest given as to the punishment of those guilty of the incident will be completely fulfilled at the earliest opportunity—particularly as regards Lin Tsu-han, who was personally responsible for the incident—the American Minister accepts in behalf of his Government the terms set forth in the note from the Minister for Foreign Affairs in definite settlement of the questions arising out of that incident.
Confident of the spirit of sincerity in which the present settlement has been made, the American Government looks to the loyal fulfillment of the said terms of settlement, as affording a measure of the good faith and good will with which it may anticipate being met, by the Nanking authorities, in other phases of the relationships between the American and the Chinese peoples.”
- (b)
-
“The American Minister has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a note of today’s date from the Minister for Foreign Affairs,15a in which reference was made to the fact that on March 24, 1927, the American war vessels, Noa and Preston, then lying in port, opened fire upon Standard Oil Company hill at Nanking, and in which the hope was expressed that the American Government would indicate their regret at this action. In reply, the American Minister has to point out that the [act] referred to was in fact a protective barrage, strictly confined to the immediate neighborhood of the house in which the American consul and his family and staff, together with many others, had been driven to seek refuge from the assaults of an unrestrained soldiery; and not only did it provide the only conceivable means by which the lives of this party were saved from the danger that immediately threatened them, but it also made possible the evacuation of the other Americans residing at Nanking, who were in actual peril of their lives. The American Government therefore feels that its naval vessels had no alternative to the action taken, however deeply it deplores that circumstances beyond its control should have necessitated the adoption of such measures for the protection of the lives of its citizens at Nanking.[”]
- (c)
-
“The American Minister has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a note of today’s date15a in which the Minister for Foreign Affairs expressed the hope that a new epoch would begin in the diplomatic relations between the United States and China and that further steps might be taken for the revision of the existing treaties and the readjustment of outstanding questions on the basis of equality and mutual respect for territorial sovereignty.
Although the questions of treaty revision can scarcely be considered germane to that of amends to the American Government and its nationals for the Nanking incident, the American Minister is not averse [to] setting forth at this time what he has already made known in that regard to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in conversations with him last month.
It is unnecessary to recall the traditional friendship existing between the United States and China, As is manifest alike from the [Page 333] course of action consistently pursued by the American Government and from the statement of policy made by the Secretary of State on January 27, 1927, the Government and the people of the United States are in full sympathy with the desire of the Chinese people to develop a sound national life of their own and to realize their aspirations for a sovereignty so far as possible unrestricted by obligations of an exceptional character. With that in view, the American Government entertains the hope that the remedying of the conditions which necessitated the incorporation of such provisions in the earlier treaties may from time to time afford opportunities for the revision, in due form and by mutual consent, of such treaty stipulations as may have become unnecessary or inappropriate.
To that end, the American Government looks forward to the hope that there may be developed an administration so far representative of the Chinese people, and so far exercising real authority, as to be capable of assuring the actual fulfillment in good faith of any obligations such as China would of necessity have for its part to undertake incidentally to the desired readjustment of treaty relations.”
- 2.
- There is in addition a memorandum being prepared with regard to functioning of the joint commission to be instituted, in pursuance of concluding paragraph of his final note. Text will be forwarded when formulated.16 While orally promising that a sum Mexican dollars one hundred thousand will be made available within one month as a first installment towards compensation for American losses, Hwang declares himself utterly unable for the present to make any promise as to the amounts or the frequency of subsequent installments, giving only the general assurance that Nanking regime will exert itself to the utmost to pay off the claims. In pursuance of your instructions I took the attitude that we were not in a position to exact particular terms of payment but must look to the good faith and honor of the “Nationalist Government” for the loyal fulfillment of the obligations assumed.
- 3.
- Repeated to the Legation.