793.003/53019/20
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Castle) of a Conversation With the Norwegian Minister (Bachke)
The Minister came in to read me a telegram which his Government had sent to the Norwegian Minister in Shanghai. The telegram referred to the fact that Norway had officially informed the Chinese that when the Great Powers gave up extraterritorial rights, Norway would follow suit, but that in the meantime it would retain the rights held by the Great Powers. The telegram further instructed the Minister to have an exchange of notes with the Chinese Government confirming this understanding. He then asked me what we were doing and I told him in strict confidence that Doctor Wu had recently intimated to us that China would insist on what amounts to a general abolition of extraterritorial rights, that, therefore, we were simply holding tight for the moment and were waiting to see what the result would be of Miles Lampson’s and M. Wilden’s38 forthcoming conversation in Nanking.
- Henri A. Wilden, French Minister in China.↩