793.94/3566: Telegram
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
94. The following although not confirmed is transmitted as being put forth by the Rengo Japanese News Agency at Mukden:
“Preparations for establishing a new state in Manchuria have been completed. Leading Chinese at Mukden, constituting the backbone of the political move, are holding an important meeting at the Provincial Government office since yesterday the 15th. The conference is expected to be kept up until the end of the current month during which the programme for the organization of the new government will receive the final polishing and president, vice president and chief[s] of the various departments in the government will be selected. These [Page 35] things accomplished, a joint conference of Fengtien, Kirin and Hei-lungkiang Provinces will be held and the new state of Manchuria and Mongolia will be formally established.
The inauguration of the new state is anticipated to take place on February 21st. Important points decided upon by leading statesmen of the three provinces are:
- 1.
- The territory. The ultimate object of the new state is to combine Fengtien, Kirin, Heilungkiang, Jehol in autonomous Mongol domain, but in consideration of the prevailing state of affairs Fengtien, Kirin and Heilungkiang will be included in the republic for the time being.
- 2.
- People. The people of the new state will be called citizens, persons who lived in the territory for a certain designated period being admitted to the citizenship with equal rights and obligations without racial discrimination.
- 3.
- Sovereign rights. The sovereignty of the state belongs to the citizens.
The president of the new republic will be elected by unanimous vote of the heads of the three provinces. Under the president, executive, judicial and supervisory yuans will be established and military, diplomatic, civil administration, industrial and educational departments will be established under the executive yuan.
The three provinces maintaining the status quo for the time being will carry out the administration of the respective provinces under the executive yuan. Besides, a resources committee and communications committee will organize, the former to develop resources required especially for national defense and the latter to develop communications. These two committees will be placed under the direct control of the president.[”]
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