793.94/2778b: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in France (Shaw)44
571. For Ambassador Dawes: On November 18 I issued to the press a statement as follows:
“I want to correct certain erroneous statements which have appeared lately in the press.
It is not true that this Government has changed in any way the attitude on the Manchurian situation which it has held from the first.
The American Government has not proposed any terms of settlement either to Japan or to China, has not been approached by either Government on the subject of terms which it might approve, and has made no commitments, either express or implied, to either of the disputants.
This Government has consistently urged and is continuing to urge that only peaceful means and not military pressure shall be used in the settlement of the dispute between China and Japan regarding Manchuria. It understands that this is the essence of the position taken by the nations represented on the Council of the League of Nations at Paris. This Government earnestly hopes that the negotiations now going on in Paris will find a way which will lead to a settlement of the difficulty in accordance with these principles.”
- The same message was sent as Department’s No. 116 to the Consul General at Nanking, for the Minister in China, and as No. 234 to the Ambassador in Japan.↩