793.94/7042: Telegram
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 14—9:33 a.m.]
274. Following from American Consul General at Mukden:
“June 13, noon. Japanese press despatch today published Kokutsu Peiping despatch reporting that, taking advantage of the North China affair, Hopei, Shantung, Shansi and Chahar are forming a political bloc in opposition to the Nanking Government and the Kuomintang and that this has served in fact to put an end to Chiang Kai-shek’s unification policy. The despatch states that the new North China régime lacks the antiforeign complexion of the Kuomintang which makes it clear that it will follow a pro-Japanese and pro-Kuomintang [anti-Kuomintang?] policy. The report forecasts that as the bloc extends, a new nation hostile to Chiang will develop, and notes that high hopes are entertained by the populace in regard to the future developments of autonomy in these four provinces.”
Repeated to Nanking.