493.11/1687
The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador (Lindsay)
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 74 of March 11, 1933,45 in regard to the request of the Chinese Government for a further postponement for one year of payments due on the British, Italian and American portions of the Boxer Indemnity of 1901.
I note that after full consideration of all the factors involved, His Majesty’s Government is disposed to consider that the arguments against complying with the request of the Chinese Government outweigh those in favor of compliance.
The views of my Government which are in agreement with those of His Majesty’s Government, as indicated above, have been communicated to the American Minister at Peiping with the request that, providing his British and Italian colleagues are authorized by their respective Governments to take similar action, he inform the [Page 666] Chinese Government that the American Government is unable to agree to the former’s request for a further postponement of payments on the American share of the Boxer Indemnity.
Accept [etc.]
- Not printed.↩