793.94/3719a: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Forbes)

[Paraphrase]

25. During the week preceding January 20 there were, according to official reports, several clashes between Japanese and Chinese at Shanghai, in one of which a Japanese was killed, two Japanese were wounded, a Chinese policeman was killed and several Chinese were injured. Several thousand Japanese held a mass meeting on the afternoon of January 20 and subsequently paraded through the streets of the International Settlement, assaulting several Chinese citizens and smashing the windows of Chinese shops. On that occasion, the Japanese and Chinese elements of the International Settlement police worked harmoniously together. January 23 was selected as the date for another Japanese mass meeting, and on January 22 the Japanese Admiral published a statement to the effect that, unless the mayor of the Chinese municipality complied with the demands presented by the Japanese Consul General with reference to several anti-Japanese incidents, the Japanese Admiral would take “appropriate steps to protect the rights and interests of Japan.”1 Accordingly, on January 23, the Japanese Consul General and the Chairman and the Secretary General of the Municipal Council called on the Japanese Admiral, who, after protracted discussions, agreed to take no action in the International Settlement without prior consultation with the authorities of the Settlement. It is reported that, subsequent to this conversation, the Japanese Consul General had promised that the reply which the Chinese Mayor makes to the Japanese demands will be communicated to the Council 24 hours in advance of any Japanese action.

While this account may not be altogether complete or precise in all details, it is a sufficient indication that the action of Japanese subjects, both officials and private citizens, is contributing to the aggravation of what is already a serious situation at Shanghai, and that the consular and naval officers of the Japanese Government on the spot are [Page 162] seriously considering the use of force near to or in the International Settlement as an instrument of Japanese policy.

Shanghai is China’s most important port. In the International Settlement there are about 40,000 foreigners, of many nationalities, American as well as Japanese, over a million Chinese, a great mass of physical property, and a focus for commercial and other legitimate interests. A disturbance to the peace at the port of Shanghai is a serious concern to every nation. Direct or indirect interference with the commerce of the port of Shanghai would injure the trade of all the chief commercial countries, as well as the trade of China.

The Government of the United States cannot regard with indifference a situation in which apparently a foreign government has authorized the commander of its naval forces at Shanghai to use force, according to his own judgment, to support demands made by the local consular representatives of that government to obtain objectives which are peculiar to that government, without the agreement, request or approval of the local representatives of other governments which have interests and nationals at Shanghai and which, on the basis of treaties and other agreements, have common rights and interests with respect to conditions of trade and residence at Shanghai and are warranted in feeling solicitude with respect to any developments menacing the local situation at Shanghai. Especially is this true with respect to the International Settlement; however, concern with regard to the interests and rights in relation to the Settlement of necessity carries with it concern with regard to any action which may affect the life of the port of which the International Settlement is a part.

Unless the local authorities have failed or are manifestly unable to discharge the duties of protection, no nation has the right, under international procedure, to land armed forces on foreign soil for the protection of its nationals. The Municipal Council, in the first instance, is responsible for the administration of the International Settlement at Shanghai and disposes of a well disciplined, organized police force, with reliable personnel and under responsible control. Should the Council decide that its agencies are inadequate to meet their responsibilities, it should so advise the Consular Body, through the Senior Consul, and the Consular Body should then issue such call as appears necessary, not upon any single one, but upon all of the foreign forces available.

Please call at once upon the Minister for Foreign Affairs and discuss this subject orally, leaving no memorandum, giving him in substance the narrative of events and the outline of views as expressed above, adhering closely to the text of this telegram. You should then inform the Minister for Foreign Affairs that this Government hopes that it may assume that the Japanese Government does not contemplate action at Shanghai in contravention of the interests and rights of other [Page 163] nations, China included, and that the Japanese Government does not contemplate any action which would jeopardize the property and lives of the nationals of the many countries concerned, including China, Japan and the United States. You should say, finally, that this Government, which desires to preserve the rights and interests of all concerned, urges that the Japanese Government exercise the maximum of self-restraint.

Stimson
  1. See first report, February 6, 1932, of the Consular Committee appointed to report on events in Shanghai and the neighborhood, League of Nations, Official Journal, March, 1932, p. 374.