793.94/2060: Telegram
The Minister in China (Johnson)27 to the Secretary of State
[Received October 12—11:06 a.m.]
747. From Consul General at Nanking:
“October 10, 6 p.m. H. H. Kung, Minister of Industries, asked for an interview with me and I called upon him October 10, 5 p.m. He has just returned from Shanghai. He asked me what information I had regarding the position of my Government toward the actions of Japan in Manchuria. He says that he had been informed by a League official who happens to be in China that after Japan had assured the League that Japan had no territorial ambitions in Manchuria, et cetera, the United States discouraged the idea of further intervention by other nations. I replied in the sense of the Department’s authorized reply to Soong. Kung then objected that Japan had been continuing its military activities in Manchuria even after giving its assurances to the League and he inquired what the attitude of the American Government would be if Japan evinced no intention of carrying out its commitments. I replied that this question must rest for the time being until October 14, that [sic] the period allotted by the League had expired.”