793.003/750½
Memorandum by the American Minister in China (Johnson) of a Conversation With the Japanese Chargé in China (Shigemitsu)73
In the course of a conversation this evening at the home of Mr. Shigemitsu the latter informed me that only recently he had presented to Dr. Wang an outline of the terms under which Japan would consider the relinquishment of its extraterritorial rights in China. He said that this outline followed generally but vaguely the terms which had been worked out between the United States and the British and the Chinese Governments except as regards the questions of residence and trade in the interior and reserved areas. In regard to the first he stated that the terms outlined by them generally followed the recognized provisions of the ordinary commercial treaty on this subject. As regards reserved areas he stated that his Government had avoided the mention of any specific places but had stipulated for the reservation of international settlements, Japanese concessions, the free area at Tsingtao and the South Manchuria Railway zone. He stated that this document was in the Japanese language, as was always the case with important documents, and that for this reason he was unable to give me a translation.