893.403/3

Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hornbeck) of a Conversation With the Former Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs (Lee)

Mr. Lee called and said that he had received from a personal friend who is a member of the Commission for Preservation of Antiquities, in China, a letter dealing with the question of the protection of objects of art, etc., in Peiping in the event of military operations in or around that city. He said there was apprehension lest the Japanese Legation guard might take advantage of the fact of military operations there, if and when, to engage in activities in the city and in course thereof destroy or seize art collections, etc. He wondered whether it would be possible to have such collections moved into the Legation quarter. Mr. Hornbeck said that it seemed to him that [Page 576] there would be no objection in principle to the taking of such precautions by the Chinese; and that he thought it could be worked out with the authorities of the different Legations, if the Chinese would approach them there, in Peiping. This apparently satisfied Mr. Lee.

S[tanley] K. H[ornbeck]