611.9331/133a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in China (MacMurray)
36. With further reference to the Department’s telegram January 24, 11 a.m., to Nanking for Perkins, Senate consideration of the treaty is expected to begin January 30.
If the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs should not reply in the terms which you requested in pursuance of instructions from the Department, [Page 780] I desire you to address a note to Dr. Wang to acknowledge receipt of his January 21 note. Then refer in your note to Dr. Wang’s oral statement to Perkins (as reported in your telegram 45, January 22, 7 p.m.) that the treaty’s meaning was clear, providing for complete most-favored-nation treatment (i. e., nondiscriminatory treatment), and to the contents of the Chinese note you are acknowledging. Thereupon state your Government’s acceptance of these statements as conclusive of the National Government’s understanding that the treaty does constitute an all-comprehensive agreement that the treatment each of the contracting parties accords to the other and to its nationals in regard to all the matters concerned is not to be in any way discriminatory in comparison with the treatment which is accorded to or is permitted to be enjoyed by any other state or its nationals in regard to those matters.