Office of the Historian

893.00/10546: Telegram

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

[Extracts]
Peiping, October 2, 1929—5 p.m.
[Received October 3—1:15 p.m.94]

852. My 845, September 26, noon.95

1. Following from American Consul General at Canton:

“October 1, 2 p.m. … Local military situation now appears developing rapidly. …

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Americans at Wuchow are asking that gunboat be sent up river for their protection. I have passed this on to Captain Loge [Logan], U. S. S. Mindanao, now in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, U. S. S. Guam has been ordered back to the Yangtze, and we have only one ship in South China waters. If Mindanao is net prepared to proceed [Page 479] to Wuchow, I will advise American women especially to leave for Hong Kong.”96

The above is being repeated to commander in chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet.

2. Dutch Minister informs me he has learned from a dependable Chinese source that Province of Kwangsi has expressed independence of the Central Government. Information from the French Minister that he has received from the Minister for Foreign Affairs urgent message asking him to prevent the delivery of certain arms contracted for in Indochina by Kwangsi authorities tends to confirm this.

MacMurray
  1. Telegram in two sections.↩
  2. Not printed.↩
  3. The Minister, in his telegram No. 869, October 8, reported that the Mindanao arrived at Wuchow on October 5 and that a destroyer was expected at Canton (893.00/10551).↩