Papers relating to the foreign relations of the United States, 1931, The Far East, Volume III

793.94/2533: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Minister in China (Johnson)

[Paraphrase]

Washington, November 9, 1931—4 p.m.

411. Reference your 892, November 9, 10 a.m.; 893, November 9, 3 p.m.; 896, November 9, 4 p.m.,⁷⁸ and Tientsin’s November 9, 3 p.m., to the Legation.⁷⁹

(1) Please request the Consul General at Tientsin to collaborate with Colonel Taylor⁸⁰ and to report telegraphically their conclusions regarding the cause of the fighting; who began it; if American lives and property are in danger; and if, in their opinion, any necessity exists for establishing the 300-metre zone outside the Japanese Concession.

(2) Inform the Consul General that he is authorized to participate if the consular body at Tientsin believes it advisable to make an impartial, united investigation, but he is not to take the initiative in organizing an investigation of this sort.

(3) Instruct him to report with promptness directly to the Department, as well as to the Legation, concerning all matters connected with the foregoing.

Stimson

78. Not printed.
79. See telegram of November 9, 4 p.m., from the Consul General at Tientsin to the Department, p. 402.
80. Commanding U. S. Fifteenth Infantry Regiment, Tientsin.