793.94/16689
The American Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs (Matsuoka)
Excellency: With reference to my note no. 1793 of May 6, 1941, concerning repeated indiscriminate bombing of Kunming by Japanese aircraft, and the consequent danger to American lives and damage to American property, I have the honor to inform Your Excellency that the American Consul at Kunming has reported that the Consulate was again damaged during a Japanese air raid on May 12, 1941. Fragments of bombs were scattered in the Consulate compound and one piece broke through a window into a residence bedroom.
Moreover, during this same raid, the larger part of the compound occupied by Mr. Stanley McGeary, an American clerk of the Consulate, was destroyed and his residence so damaged as to render it barely habitable, and for the third time recently the China Inland Mission, where a number of Americans live, was damaged and the residence there of Mr. E. L. Crapuchettes, an American citizen, was partly demolished.
I find it most regrettable that, although every effort has been made to impress upon the Japanese Government and officials the importance attached by my Government to the safety of American officials and citizens residing for legitimate reasons in Kunming and other localities in China and to the security of American property in that country, the activities of the Japanese air forces continue to endanger American lives and to inflict serious damage upon American property. Your Excellency must realize that the cumulative effect upon American public opinion of these repeated bombings of the American Consulate at Kunming and other American properties in that city cannot be otherwise than most unfortunate.
In view of the foregoing, I am obliged to remind Your Excellency that the American Government looks to the Japanese Government to take such steps as may be required to prevent further endangering of American lives and property in China.
I avail myself [etc.]