793.003/55718/9
Memorandum by the Minister in China (Johnson)93
I went to see the Minister for Foreign Affairs today and in the course of conversation he asked me what the American attitude on extraterritorial negotiations was. I said that the American Government had been sincerely anxious to reach an understanding in regard to this matter which would be satisfactory to both governments. I said that as far back as the original statement of Mr. Secretary Kellogg on this subject in January, 1927,94 we had maintained our desire to settle this question on the basis of the gradual relinquishment of extraterritorial privileges. I said I thought there could be no question of our sincerity of purpose in this matter and that we were still ready to meet the Chinese provided that the terms of such agreement as might be signed would be on such a basis.
Dr. Wang stated that he had never assented to such a basis of negotiation, that as far back as the days of Dr. Schurman95 he had advocated [Page 792] a complete and final abandonment of extraterritoriality. He compared this question to a surgical operation on a patient suffering from appendicitis saying that of course the patient would be hurt but that it would be better when everything was over. I said that modern surgery provided an anaesthetic so that operations were painless. I said that this was exactly what the United States was aiming at in its negotiations when it proposed that they should be based on a process of gradual relinquishment and that to this end my Government had proposed that in any agreement that might result certain areas should be reserved from Chinese jurisdiction; that criminal jurisdiction should not be given up at once and that the legal counselors should sit with the judges in the special courts provided for the trial of civil cases involving the rights of American citizens.
I said it seemed to me that there could be no doubt of the existence of a very deep and real feeling of friendship in the United States for China but that during recent years the minds of thinking Americans were filled with apprehension as to the future and as to the intentions of the Chinese. I said that little or nothing had ever been said by the Chinese in regard to what they were doing in preparation for the time when they would take over jurisdiction of the persons and property of American citizens, that all that we heard were public statements in the nature of threats. I said that there was a constant undercurrent coming principally from the Chinese themselves of an intimation that unless the foreign powers yielded completely and entirely to the wishes of the Chinese Government the situation that American merchants and others residing and carrying on their business in China would be one of danger, in other words American citizens would be penalized for the attitude of their Government. I said that this atmosphere of hostility and unfriendliness was not a good atmosphere for negotiations and that it was undermining good feeling in the United States toward China.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs said that he thought that Americans were too much influenced by British propaganda, that the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai was notoriously susceptible to propaganda originating in the British Chamber of Commerce. I stated that I felt there was little to this, that thinking Americans knew what value to place upon British statements regarding conditions in China, that this feeling came from statements made directly by Chinese to Americans, both officials and private citizens. (Note: I had in mind Dr. Wang’s own public statements and statements made in private conversation by Chinese to American citizens.) I said that all of this was going back home to responsible business men all over the country and to senators and congressmen and that it was having [Page 793] its effect on the attitude of these men toward China and the Chinese. I said that the treatment accorded to Americans had also had its effect; that the outrageous treatment of Americans in Nanking in 192796 had not been without its effect upon thinking opinion in America. I said that it was regrettable that the Chinese Government was not attempting by word or deed to allay this feeling of apprehension and inspire Americans with a feeling of confidence as to the future.
Dr. Wang stated that there was no reason for such apprehension; that he felt sure Americans would be able to carry on their activities without difficulty. The conversation was interrupted here as both of us had engagements.
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Minister without covering despatch; received June 11. Substance reported by the Minister in telegram of April 13, 1931, 4 p.m.; received April 14, 7:15 a.m. (793.003/602).↩
- See telegram No. 28, January 25, 1927, 8 p.m., to the Chargé in China, Foreign Relations, 1927, vol. ii, p. 350.↩
- Jacob Gould Schurman, Minister in China, 1921–25.↩
- See Foreign Relations, 1927, vol. ii, pp. 146 ff.↩