611.9331/158

Memorandum by the Counselor of Legation in China (Perkins) of a Conversation With the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs (C. T. Wang) at Nanking on January 17, 1929 45

[Extract]

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I then inquired of Dr. Wang whether he had any matters which he wished me to mention to Minister MacMurray. In reply he mentioned the name of Rodney Gilbert,46 and said, with considerable vehemence, that Mr. Gilbert was persona non grata to the National Government; that his activities greatly handicapped the furtherance of good relations between China and the United States and that he would like to get Gilbert out of China. If it were not for the existence of extraterritoriality they would have Gilbert deported at once. He said it was true that Gilbert was connected, not with American, but with British publications,47 and that steps were actually being taken to see if his obnoxious activities could not be curtailed.48 I said that I would report to Mr. MacMurray what Dr. Wang had said, but that in any case the Minister did not possess the authority to deport American citizens. If, however, Mr. Gilbert was guilty of violating the law regarding libel, slander, etc., action could of course be taken against him. Dr. Wang said that he knew that, according to American law, [Page 754] there was a great deal of latitude in the matter of free speech and that that made it very difficult to handle matters of this kind in that way.

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M[ahlon] F. P[erkins]
  1. Copy transmitted to the Department by the Minister in China in his despatch No. 1962, March 11; received April 15, 1929.
  2. An American citizen, journalist and author in China.
  3. The North China Daily News and the North China Herald, daily and weekly newspapers published by the North China Daily News & Herald Ltd. at Shanghai.
  4. Rodney Gilbert left China for the United States in February 1929.