493.11 Ekvall, Henry/77
The Consul General at Nanking (Peck) to the Minister in China (Johnson)90
Dear Mr. Minister: During the course of my conversation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs today in connection with the situation at Chefoo, Dr. Lo Wen-kan asked me to tell you that a few days [Page 546] ago he sent Dr. S. S. Liu, Director of the Department of European and American Affairs, to Hankow to interview General Chiang Kai-shek about the Ekvall case. He said that the newspaper report that Dr. Liu had gone to Hankow to see General Chiang about the Lytton report was erroneous, and that he went primarily to convey an urgent request from Dr. Lo that General Chiang cause to be made an immediate and thorough settlement of the Ekvall case at Sian, without regard to any official responsibility for that occurrence which might thereby be disclosed.
Dr. Lo stated that he deeply regretted occurrences like the disappearance of Ekvall, which might disturb the cordiality felt by the American Government and people for China. Dr. Lo Wen-kan admitted, quite frankly, that he especially deplored these occurrences at this particular time, since they gave the Japanese added opportunity to point the finger of criticism at China and reinforced their attempts to create difficulties between the United States and China. Following the same line of thought, Dr. Lo said that he had observed in the speeches of European statesmen reported in the press a strong tendency on the part of members of the League of Nations to look to the United States for guidance, especially in connection with the Sino-Japanese controversy. Dr. Lo observed that a heavy responsibility was placed upon the United States.
Dr. Lo then inveighed, as he frequently does, against the Provincial “so-called Militarists” who, by their internal quarrels, reflect discredit on China, and he said that he was told that an officer attached to the Japanese Legation named Suma, at Shanghai, made a practice of gathering as many foreign newspaper correspondents as he could persuade to assemble and to point out to them areas of disturbance in China, such as Szechuan, Shantung, and other regions. I cannot discover Suma’s name in the list of personnel of the Japanese Legation and am not aware whether the report given to Dr. Lo, as set forth above, is accurate or not.
I told Dr. Lo that I would report to the American Legation his observations concerning the responsibility which, as he said, rested on the United States in connection with the decisions of the League of Nations and he made no objection.
Very respectfully yours,
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Minister in China in his despatch No. 1827, November 22; received December 19.↩