793.94/3762: Telegram
The Consul General at Shanghai (Cunningham) to the Secretary of State
[Received 11:38 p.m.]
My telegram of January 29, 6 p.m. The Chinese members of the Shanghai Municipal Council have addressed an identic protest to the Senior Consul and the Chairman of the Municipal Council. The Government [protest?] calls attention to the fact that in accordance with the state of emergency the Council should call upon Japanese to occupy a certain sector to preserve “peace and order in Hongkew district. It is most regrettable that the Japanese in pursuing their hostile ruin [course?] have made use of the district, the safety and good order of [Page 132] which they are under obligation to safeguard as the base of their operations. Such action of the Japanese constitutes a grave violation of the neutral character of the Settlement and should therefore be immediately checked.” They request that all effective measures to put an end to such undesirable state of affairs be taken and that the attention of the Japanese authorities be directed to their responsibility for having violated the neutrality of the Settlement.
- 2.
- The greatest contribution which could be made toward the return to normalcy is the prevention of the Japanese from using the Settlement as a base for operations and preventing them from acting independently in the sectors for the protection of other nationals.
- 3.
- I desire to express the opinion that official pronouncements in Washington in regard to the preserving of International Settlement in its international boundaries and also that it should not be invaded or used as a base is exceedingly helpful. Reuter carries a statement dated Washington the 28th which is believed by officials as of such character as to cause those intending to invade the Settlement without authority to fully consider the matter before taking any action. Frequent statements of this nature, it is believed, will be helpful.
Repeated to the Legation.