711.933/277
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hornbeck)
Dr. Wu called and began the conversation with a discussion of the question of visas which he had raised on February 26. (Note: See memorandum of even date.82)
[Page 392]Dr. Wu then said that he had looked over the pages which contained a portion of what might be made the starting point for a new plan with regard to the abolition of extraterritoriality. He said that he did not think very much of the ideas therein embodied; that it looked as though someone had made a collection of ideas to which, in the course of conversations during the past year, he had voiced objections. He said that it sounded reactionary.
Mr. Hornbeck said that the problem with which he and Dr. Wu were dealing must be regarded as that of preparing a plan which would: first, satisfy our respective Secretaries of State; second, satisfy the ratifying agencies; and, third, have practical value by virtue of being in line with such agreements as might be concluded between China and other Powers, it being obvious that the rights enjoyed by foreign nationals in general in China could not vary materially as among the nationals of the various Powers with whose governments the Chinese are now negotiating. Dr. Wu said that whatever agreement might first be concluded between China and one other Power would serve as a model for the other agreements to be concluded. He said that it had been intimated to him that the British Government, feeling that the United States had stolen a march on the other countries in concluding the first tariff treaty in 1928,83 was anxious to be the first government now to conclude an extraterritoriality treaty. Mr. Hornbeck replied that he thought that everybody would be pleased if the British Government were the first to succeed in the present instance as that would simplify the problem for the others. Dr. Wu said that he would prefer that the American Government would be the first. Mr. Hornbeck said that what this Government was interested in was not the question of who should be first but that the problem in hand be so dealt with and the agreement arrived at be such that through it the legitimate interests of all concerned would be best served.
Mr. Hornbeck said that it was his hope that, during Dr. Wu’s absence, a good deal of useful study might be given to the subject and that in the interval if anyone made effective progress toward discovering the basis of a practical agreement everybody ought to be gratified.
- Not printed.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1928, vol. ii, p. 475.↩