793.94/5555
The Department of State to the British Embassy60
Memorandum
It is the understanding of the Department of State that, in a conversation on September 13 between the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs [Page 251] and the American Ambassador, the British Secretary for Foreign Affairs expressed interest in receiving any information available to the Department with regard to the possibility of armed hostilities between Chinese and Japanese military forces in North China south of the wall.
The information in this regard which has been reported to the Department of State by the American missions at Peiping and at Tokyo is, in brief, as follows:
On July 24, General Chang Hsueh-liang inquired of the American Military Attaché at Peiping what measures would be taken if the Japanese Legation guard should take action in Peiping; on July 26, the Chinese were concentrating forces in the neighborhood of Peiping and Kupeikou to meet a possible threat of invasion by the Japanese; the purpose of the conference at Peiping at that time of Chinese military leaders was to meet anticipated Japanese action, and the Chinese considered it probable that, in the event that Chinese troops were moved into Jehol, Japanese forces would enter the Peiping-Tientsin area; on August 3, Wellington Koo spoke to Minister Johnson of the danger of Japanese military action at Peiping and inquired with regard to the possibility of neutralizing Peiping and Tientsin; on August 4, the spokesman of the Japanese War Department gave a statement to the vernacular press to the effect that if Chang Hsueh-liang and his party should repeat their plots (against “Manchoukuo”) there would be serious results and that if Chang Hsueh-liang carried out his plans he would be “digging his own grave”; on August 30, two Japanese military officers stated to the British Commandant at Peiping that “it was necessary to crush Marshal Chang Hsueh-liang if he did not depart”; on September 6, the British Chargé d’Affaires at Peiping informed Minister Johnson that the Japanese Chief of Staff at Tientsin had told the British Brigadier at Tientsin that the former could give no guarantee that under certain conditions the Japanese Army would not act inside the wall and that it would be necessary for the Japanese Army to strike at Chang Hsueh-liang at Peiping if he continued assisting the movement of “volunteers” in Manchuria. The American Minister at Peiping has reported three instances of manoeuvres by the Japanese Legation guard outside the Legation quarter. A Japanese Army officer, attached to the Japanese Assessor with the Commission of the League of Nations, recently informed the American Naval Attaché at Peiping that “the Japanese, except in the event of serious provocation, have no intention of occupying the Peiping-Tientsin area”.
In view of these reports, which in the opinion of the Department of State warrant apprehension that Sino-Japanese hostilities may occur in the Peiping-Tientsin area, the Department believes that the question of safeguarding the rights, interests, and safety of the Legations and of the civilian population, especially foreign nationals, needs to be [Page 252] given, in advance of such occurrences, very serious consideration. Until such possible hostilities become definitely imminent, it is difficult to initiate suggestions which imply the assumption that they will occur. However, the Department has felt that it is desirable that the representatives at Peiping of the principal non-disputant powers concerned discuss this question and related questions freely among themselves and endeavor to arrive at a community of view in the form of common recommendations for submission, in the event of definitely threatening developments, to their governments respectively. The Department has felt that such-discussions should include the possibility of proposing to China and Japan complete neutralization during the period of hostilities of the city of Peiping, including an area with, say, a ten mile radius from the walls, this area to be cleared of military and other armed forces with the exception of police gendarmes and Legation guards, military operations of any sort within this area to be prohibited and no aerial operations or flying over this area to be permitted. It now seems to the Department that it might be warrantable for the governments of the powers, if and when hostilities appear imminent, to suggest to the Chinese and Japanese Government that they immediately enter into an agreement of this character. The Department inclines toward the view that among the considerations which would be weighed by the Japanese with regard to such proposal, those in favor of agreeing to such a proposal, if made, would outweigh those against. Among the considerations in favor would be the fact that there exist special arrangements, by multilateral agreement, with regard to the maintenance at Peiping of a special Legation quarter with special guards, and provision for the maintenance by the foreign powers of an open line of communication from Peiping to the Gulf of Chihli, and the probability that there would be little if anything for the Japanese to lose strategically by such a neutralization, as Peiping is not important as an industrial or commercial or communication center and is no longer the capital. Were the Japanese to dissent to the proposal and to advance in force into this area, there might be many possibilities of their becoming embroiled with foreign powers in case, in consequence of military operations begun by them, the Legation quarter were to suffer, or the military forces of other foreign powers at Peiping or at Tientsin were brought into collision either with Japanese or with Chinese military forces. It seems reasonable to anticipate that there would probably be no objection on the part of China to a proposal that Peiping be thus neutralized. With regard to the suggestion which has been made to the Department that request might be made for the neutralization of the Legation quarter alone, the Department doubts whether adoption of that suggestion or proposal would be of substantial practical value, for the reason that if fighting [Page 253] were to occur near to, within, or over Peiping, the Legation quarter would be in constant physical jeopardy, no matter what its legal status.
The Department has already informed the American Minister at Peiping of its views as expressed in the foregoing paragraph.
The Department would appreciate consideration by the British Foreign Office of the views expressed above and would welcome an expression of the Foreign Office’s views, especially with regard to the desirability of the governments of the powers, particularly the British and the American Governments, being prepared in advance to suggest to the Chinese and Japanese Governments, at an appropriate moment, if and when, that they exclude Peiping from the field of military operations.