793.003/616: Telegram
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Paraphrase]
Nanking, April 23, 1931—9
a.m.
[Received 9:50 a.m.]
[Received 9:50 a.m.]
My April 21, 6 p.m.
[Here follows report of a conversation with the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs based on memorandum of April 22, 1931, printed supra.]
- (2)
- The draft of article 9 as suggested in the Department’s 12, March 14, 4 p.m., to the Consul General at Nanking,9 seems to Lampson and me to be an excellent substitute for the former draft of this [Page 807] article, the wording of which may well have given the Chinese the notion that we were excluding the concessions.
- (3)
- Lampson and Wang Chung-hui the other day had a conversation during which the question of the reserved areas came up for discussion. Dr. Wang was adamant in opposition to the exclusion of all four of the ports, but he intimated that regarding Shanghai something might be done for a limited period. He also brought up the point that the existence of foreign concessions at Hankow, Tientsin, and Canton was an argument against their exclusion from the scope of the agreement. Lampson told him that the existence of British Concessions at any of these places had nothing to do with the British position and that the British offer still stood concerning them. Lampson told Dr. Wang Chung-hui that the British Government’s instructions were to insist upon the exclusion for a period of 10 years of the four ports. I am told by Lampson that he believes the Chinese will yield in the cases of Shanghai and Tientsin.
Johnson