393.1163/386: Telegram
The Chargé in China (Perkins) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 30—4:45 a.m.]
92. Your 30, January 24, 5 p.m. Following from American Consul General at Hankow:
“January 28, 1 p.m. While [Whether?] there are American mission workers residing at Batang am not aware at present and I have had no recent reports indicating any abnormal state of affairs for that region. It is the policy of this office to advise against American citizens proceeding to such remote points from which they cannot be quickly and safely evacuated in case of danger. Travel to Chengtu in safety is possible at present but conditions along the river often change over night. Having recently declined to issue travel passes to Americans desiring to proceed to Kansu, I cannot consistently issue such passes to Americans who are proceeding to region even more remote and less accessible than Kansu, nor could I with consistency aid in obtaining Chinese visas of their American passports to travel to such remote regions.”60
- The United Christian Missionary Society, Indianapolis, was informed by the Department on February 11, 1930, that “Under these circumstances, the Department advises that the two ladies mentioned in your letter of January 22 abandon, for the time being, the idea of proceeding beyond Chengtu.”↩