711.933/253: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Consul General at Shanghai ( Cunningham )

Following for urgent decoding and to be handed to the American Minister:

Your February 3, 7 p.m.

1.
Paragraph 1. Tentative proposal handed to Chinese Minister included criminal as well as civil cases involving American citizens.
2.
Paragraph 3. Department believes that evidence to Chinese of absence of agreement between the foreign Powers concerned will not at this stage prejudice the negotiations but may even encourage the Chinese to make reasonable proposals of their own. The Department desires, however, freely to exchange with other interested Governments views and information. Chinese Minister has made no comment since this was given him.
3.
Paragraph 4. The Department supplied British Embassy with complete text of the present tentative proposal and Embassy has telegraphed same to the British Foreign Office. Department’s 33, January 25, 6 p.m.,59 gives you text of Article 3. Résumé of other provisions follows:
4.
[Here follows résumé of proposal; for text of outline of possible provisions of January 23, 1930, see page 363.]
5.
It must be clearly understood that this material was handed to Chinese Minister for consideration and not as an offer.
6.
Full text mailed February 3.
Cotton
  1. Not printed.