793.94/4586: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland (Wilson), at Geneva
28. Your 54, March 5, 2 p.m. I see dangerous possibilities in your suggestion. It appears to dispossess Nanking from the formulation of agenda. The local Chinese authorities do not seem to me an adequate representation of China, and arrangements made with them [Page 520] might not be ratified by Nanking. Such an arrangement may too easily be misrepresented as a working alliance between Tokyo and the four powers against China, endeavoring to slide through some long-sought foreign advantages in the Settlement at the expense of Chinese national interests. In Yen’s letter to Boncour of March 2 he made the following condition: “It is of course understood that participation in this conference is subject to agreement between participating governments as to its agenda”. I should be surprised if he did not mean Nanking and not the local authorities. In my opinion every effort should be made to get the highest possible Chinese authority into this conference.