793.003/667b: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Nanking (Peck)
[Paraphrase]
Washington, May 9,
1931—noon.
38. For the Minister: Department’s 35, May 8, 6 p.m., to Nanking.
- (1)
- Reference Department’s April 27 draft on extraterritoriality.52 The articles which
correspond in this draft to those upon which the Chinise and British
negotiators have so far reached accord, as reported by you, resemble
in substance those of the Chinese-British draft.
[Page 851]
Special note should, however, be made
of the following features in the Department’s draft:
- Article 2. Special Chambers: There has been included provision for the hearing before these chambers of cases arising in places where such chambers are established and involving Americans as plaintiffs or complainants.
- Article 2. Special Chambers; Article 3. Legal counselors; Article 5. Arrests, imprisonment, detention, and bail: There has been considerable change of phraseology in these articles.
- Article 12. Shipping: At the end of this article there has been added a clause designed to give consular officers continued control over the internal affairs of merchant vessels.
- Article 15. Personal status matters: For this, see the Department’s 33, May 4, 8 p.m., to Nanking.
- Article 19. Provisions of existing treaties: While the Department has not agreed to this, the following phraseology is desired for this article by the Chinese Legation: “All provisions in the existing treaties between China and the United States of America relating to matters of jurisdiction shall be abrogated and cease to be operative.”
- Article 20. Duration and ratification: The phraseology of this article necessarily is very tentative, since the Chinese have not yet agreed to the 10–year period of duration. C. C. Wu desires the preparation of a French text to be used as the authoritative text in case of dispute. To this the Department has not yet agreed, but without having carefully studied the matter it does not believe there are any insurmountable difficulties to Wu’s proposal.
- Exchange of notes (8th section), Mutual relations of courts: This additional paragraph has been inserted by the Department for the purpose of haying some provision for the mutual relations between the Chinese courts and the American courts continuing to function in the excluded areas.
- (2)
- This new draft should be compared by you with the Chinese-British draft and a copy communicated to Lampson. After you have discussed it with him, the Department wishes to have the benefit of your observations.
- (3)
- There is being forwarded by mail to you a copy of the April 27 draft which was telegraphed to you by the Department.
Stimson