793.003/752a
The Acting Secretary of State to the Minister in China (Johnson)
Sir: Referring to your telegrams of June 20, 1931, 3 p.m.79 and of June 24, 1931, 4 p.m., from Shanghai, in regard to the extraterritoriality negotiations between the United States and China, the Department is sending you herewith a copy of a draft which has been prepared in consultation between representatives of the Department and of the Chinese Legation,80 together with copies of memoranda, dated June 27, 1931,81 and July 2, 1931,82 prepared by the Department’s representative in regard thereto.
[Page 888]The draft is substantially similar to that initialed by the British Minister and the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs on June 6, 1931, except that Article XVI—Reserved Areas—remains blank; that four of the points which appear in the Sino-British draft as “unpublished” documents, appear in the enclosed draft in documents which are to be published; and that reference in the exchange of notes to the Chinese Mediation Law of January 20, 1930, has been omitted. There are changes in phraseology and arrangement as will be observed by comparing the two drafts.
The Department’s Legal Adviser is studying this draft and any changes which may be made necessary as a result of his study will be communicated to you later.
The Department intends to give you instructions by telegraph in regard to this draft and in regard to the future course of the negotiations.
Very truly yours,