493.11/1632: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in China (Johnson)
128. Your 538, May 18, noon. The conditions under which the Department would not be disposed to raise any objection to the postponement of payments of American share of Boxer Indemnity are precisely indicated in the Department’s 68 of March 2, 5 p.m. to you at Shanghai.
Department’s attitude, which remains unchanged, was and is entirely responsive to the assurance given by the Chinese Government (see your telegram of February 9, 4 p.m., from Nanking) that the objects to which Indemnity payments are devoted “would not suffer since the several indemnity commissions have in hand sufficient accumulated funds to cover the requirements of the next year”. In view of this, and of the exactly responsive phraseology of the Department’s instruction in reply, Department is of the opinion that if this exact meeting by us of the proposal made by them is clearly pointed out to the Chinese authorities, they will concur in the Department’s view that the words “complete interruption” are not appropriate in the premises and will assent to their deletion.
The present position of the Department is in conformity with its position in 1917, when in its telegraphic instruction of September 20, 1917 to the Legation at Peiping71 the Department stated inter alia that it “is unable affirmatively to agree to the postponement of indemnity payments, but will make no objection, provided the Chinese Government will agree to support the Tsing Hua College and the educational mission and students in the United States on the present basis”.
Department desires that you take appropriate action.