793.94/3975
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hornbeck) of a Conversation With the Japanese Chargé (Kato)
Mr. Kato called and, after certain desultory remarks on things in general, said that he was instructed to say that his Government was having to deal with a very troublesome situation at Shanghai. He said that the Chinese had been behaving in a very annoying manner and a few days ago had assaulted five Japanese monks and had killed one. He said that Shanghai was the headquarters of the anti-Japanese boycott associations. Japan had been forced to send naval vessels and men but did not wish to do anything which would complicate the situation and certainly had no intention of interfering with interests of other powers or causing any inconvenience.
I stated to Mr. Kato that we had within the half hour received a telegram from Shanghai66a stating that the Japanese Consul General there had informed the Consular Body that he had received the Chinese mayor’s reply, which reply he considered satisfactory and thought that there would be no trouble provided the Chinese kept their promises.
Mr. Kato said that he had not received this information and that he was happy to hear of it.
I took occasion to say to Mr. Kato that the Shanghai situation seemed to us a very delicate one and we were concerned with regard to it. I mentioned various factors in the problem, and he said that he quite agreed.
January 29, 1932.
(Note: It now appears that, notwithstanding what the Japanese Consul General said to the Consular Body at Shanghai at 4 p.m., a Japanese attack began that night at midnight. It will be remembered that the Japanese Consul General had apparently, as reported by Cunningham in Shanghai’s January 25, 5 p.m., on an earlier date “promised that reply from mayor to Japanese demands … will be given to Council 24 hours in advance of any Japanese action”. And that the Japanese Consul General, as reported in Cunningham’s January 27, 11 a.m., had “promised to inform me (Cunningham) and the Municipal Council of the Chinese reply and to give us advance notice of any military action to be taken. He further stated that no action will be taken until forty hours after the delivery of an ultimatum.”
The Japanese attack seems to have begun nine hours after the Japanese Consul General received the Chinese reply and within two hours [Page 89] of the moment when Mr. Kato was talking to me. It does not appear that the Japanese Consul General gave the Consular Body copy of the Chinese reply, in advance.[)]
- Dated January 28, 6 p.m.; not printed.↩