793.94/5763
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 16, 1933.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith memoranda80 of six conversations, as listed below, which I had in Nanking with various Chinese government officials, and more especially with Dr. Lo Wen-kan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, between December 5 and December 16, 1932.
From these conversations it is apparent that the Chinese Government is anxious that the United States should take a more active part in the Sino-Japanese controversy, either by giving its whole-hearted support to the efforts of the League of Nations or by initiating action under the Nine-Power Treaty. The Foreign Minister said, among other things, that China’s views on the Resolution of the Committee of Nineteen would be largely influenced by the American Government’s attitude toward the invitation to it to participate.
The Department’s attention is invited to Dr. Lo Wen-kan’s statement on December 7th that he considered himself “a director of volunteers” in Manchuria, and that as China realized that the League could do little or nothing “they would have to go on fighting”. And on December 10th he enlarged upon that point by saying that even though “the League had no means of forcing Japan to leave Manchuria”, China was entitled to the moral backing which a judgment in Geneva would give her. China would attend to the execution of the judgment herself, and although it might take a long time she would never give up.
Respectfully yours,