611.9331/186: Telegram
The Minister in China ( Johnson ) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 27—5:12 a.m.]
141. With further reference to Department’s 64, March 13, noon, we have been committed to negotiations on the subject of extraterritoriality since 1929 so that Chinese Government’s note of January 18th of this year did not in fact introduce any new matter into treaty discussion. The only new factor introduced by its note of December 23, 1933, requesting revision of the treaty of 1903 and the statement in the January 13 [18] note [is?] regarding inland river and coastal navigation. There is very little likelihood that we can persuade the Chinese to offer us a chance for proposal in regard to any of these [Page 530] questions short of a request for their complete abrogation. It would be my suggestion that we do one of two things at the present time: (a) instruct Peck to see Wang Ching-wei66 and make oral acknowledgement of Foreign Office note of January 13 [18] requesting that Foreign Office be more specific and furnish us detailed draft or (b) build up our own draft of what we are prepared to agree to based on extraterritorial draft of July 14, 1931,67 and hand that to the Foreign Office.
- President of the Chinese Executive Yuan (Premier) and Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1931, vol. iii, p. 893.↩