493.11 Changsha/3: Telegram
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 2—2:05 p.m.]
775. 1. Following from Hankow:
“August 30, noon. Claims of American citizens and firms for losses suffered at Changsha are being presented to this Consulate General for filing with the Chinese authorities. In view of the circumstances this [the?] Legation’s instructions are requested as to the necessity of exhausting local remedies before requiring claimants to fill in Department’s formal diplomatic claim.”
2. I feel that we are not in a position to settle these claims locally and that claimants, therefore, may as well be asked at once to have their claims prepared on or substantially in accordance with Department’s formal claim blanks. While Clark’s report has not yet been received, it seems probable that the aggregate of the claims will be large. It is possible that they will require special treatment as in the case of the Nanking incident of March 24, 1927.92 I am informed that the Japanese Government is making an estimate of Japanese losses at Changsha and that the Nanking Government is doing likewise [Page 185] in anticipation of negotiations looking towards a settlement. The Department’s views are solicited.
- See Foreign Relations, 1927, vol. ii, pp. 146 ff.; 1928, vol. ii, pp. 323 ff.; and 1929, vol. ii, pp. 858 ff.↩