893.51/5284
Memorandum by the Minister in China (Johnson)36
In the course of a conversation with Sir Miles Lampson36a today, we agreed to the comments which we would make identically on the Department’s redraft of the Extraterritoriality proposals.37
I told Sir Miles that in the course of a conversation yesterday, both with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and with the Minister of Finance, I had been told that Yen Hsi-shan was endeavoring to seize the Customs revenues at Tientsin. I said that I had also been told that in case he succeeded in doing this, the Nationalist Government proposed to establish an effective blockade of the port of Tientsin. We discussed this matter for sometime. I pointed out that it seemed to me difficult for us to do anything in the matter. I stated that, so far as I was concerned, I felt that while it would be deplorable to have the Customs administration go to pieces or the trade at Tientsin stop, I did not see on what proper grounds I should protest against effective measures that the Nationalist Government might take to close the port of Tientsin if that port was occupied by parties in rebellion against the recognized government.
Suppose I protested on the ground that the Customs administration was necessary to commerce. The reply of the Chinese would be that they did not care about that as they wished to stop commerce at that particular point in order to prevent the rebellion obtaining revenues necessary to its success.
[Page 228]Suppose I stated that I protested on the ground that Americans desired to trade with Tientsin. The Chinese might well answer that the safety of the Government far outweighed in importance the trade that Americans might be carrying on with Tientsin.
We agreed that there was little or nothing that we could do at this time. We agreed that it might be possible to say informally to Yen Hsi-shan or his representatives, that it would be better if they would let the Customs House alone, as seizure would be bound to bring on difficulties of various sorts.
Sir Miles told me that he had instructed Aveling of his Legation at Peiping, at his discretion in case he saw Y. L. Tong, representative of Yen Hsi-shan, to mention this matter casually.