793.94/6993
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 1.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that in a conversation with me today Mr. Y. Suma, Japanese Consul General and First Secretary of Legation at Nanking, commented on the recent improvement in Sino-Japanese relations and on the possibility of foreign financial assistance to China (reference my telegram No. 88 of May 1, 12 noon, 1935, from Nanking.30) Mr. Suma is given to talking a great deal and the accuracy of his statements is not infrequently open to question, although he is always informative.
With regard to Sino-Japanese relations, Mr. Suma told me that representatives who attended the conference of Japanese consular officers at Shanghai in April reported that the conversations between Chinese and Japanese officials held early this year for the purpose of effecting closer “cooperation” between the two countries had resulted in a general improvement in their various consular districts in the attitude of the Chinese toward Japan. He said, however, that in certain places, such as the capital cities of Chekiang and Kiangsu Provinces, there was still considerable evidence of anti-Japanese activities. He added that such activities were no longer being instigated by officials, such initiative having been taken over by Chinese trade unions. According to Mr. Suma, the improved relations have resulted only in an increase of Sino-Japanese trade.
In speaking of the possibility of foreign financial assistance to the National Government, Mr. Suma said that he had asked the British Minister what Chinese official had approached him to suggest that the National Government would like to obtain a loan from Great Britain and that the British Minister had informed him that Mr. T. V. Soong, as a representative of the Finance Minister, Dr. H. H. [Page 133] Kung, had done so. Mr. Suma expressed the opinion to me that such an approach could not be taken seriously, as it was not the proper channel for such a proposal, the proper channel being the Central Executive Committee through the Minister for Foreign Affairs. (I might suggest that this opinion is a rather strange one to come from Mr. Suma in view of the irregular approaches made with regard to Sino-Japanese matters to Chinese officials by Japanese who are not connected with the Japanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs.)
Mr. Suma then went on to say that Dr. H. H. Kung had approached him twice and Mr. T. V. Soong once to ask him whether Japan would be willing to lend money to the National Government but that he, Mr. Suma, had not regarded their inquiries seriously. He said that Dr. Kung had been rather vague in regard to the details of the loan desired, although in their second conversation Dr. Kung had said that the loan would be used for the improvement of Chinese railways, agriculture, and the like. Mr. Soong, on the other hand, had definitely said that China would like to borrow money for the purpose of reforming Chinese currency. Mr. Suma stated emphatically that Japan, believing that any loan at the present time along the lines of the Administrative Loan of 191231 would be of no value, was not interested in direct financial assistance to China and that, as China was not under present conditions in a position to make currency reform effective, Japan was not interested in lending money for the purpose of attempting to reform Chinese currency.
Respectfully yours,
- Post, p. 577.↩
- See Foreign Relations, 1912, pp. 112 ff.↩