125.991H1/59
The American Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs (Matsuoka)
Excellency: I have the honor to inform Your Excellency that according to a report received from the American Consulate at Kunming, during the widespread bombing of that city by Japanese planes on January 29, 1941, one bomb dropped only a little over two hundred yards from the American Consulate. The Consulate buildings were severely shaken, and rocks, dirt, and bomb fragments thrown into the compound. Windows in the buildings were blown open, objects toppled, and the door frame in the living room was shaken so badly as to make repairs necessary.
Your Excellency’s attention is invited to the fact that on November 9, 1938, a map in triplicate showing the location of the American Consulate property, as well as other American property in Kunming, was sent by the American Embassy at Peiping to the Japanese Embassy there for forwarding to the appropriate military authorities. Moreover, as the Japanese authorities were also informed, the premises were marked by three American flags 9 feet by 17 feet.
I have the honor again to invite the attention of Your Excellency to the serious repercussions likely to ensue from indiscriminate attacks of this character which have endangered American Government buildings and the lives of the American Consul and his family, and to emphasize the importance of causing urgent and effective instructions to be issued to the appropriate Japanese authorities in China to prevent a recurrence of such dangerous activities.
I avail myself [etc.]