793.94/3957: Telegram
The Chargé in Great Britain (Atherton) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 4—8:47 p.m.]
49. Department’s telegram No. 54, February 4, noon. After our telephone conversation tonight I transmitted your further message to Sir John Simon. He asked me to convey to you the three following points he now has under consideration.
- 1.
- That the English and American Governments should already be formulating their answer to the Japanese reply and would it not be well to leave Manchuria out of the field of the immediate discussions limiting them to the Shanghai area and Yangtze Valley.
- 2.
- If Japan is unwilling to accept neutral observers under proposal five could not the “good offices” of the Commission already en route set up by the League with the approval of Japan and containing a British and American member be utilized?
- 3.
- More especially since the American and English Governments appreciate Japan’s position vis-à-vis the Chinese boycott could not the “good offices” of this League Commission in some way be employed as an intermediary between this economic menace to Japan which is at the same time China’s greatest weapon of defense?
Sir John said cable communication from Shanghai interrupted and he was largely dependent on Admiralty reports. Latest news received checked up with your advices on probability of Japanese troop movements to Shanghai area while there were also vague intimations received that China was considering the abandonment of resistance in the Shanghai area.