793.94/7472
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 4.]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose memoranda15 of conversations between the Secretary of War of the United States,16 Dr. H. H. Kung, Chinese Minister of Finance, and myself, which occurred on October 24, 1935, in my apartment at the Cathay Hotel, during the recent visit of Mr. Dern to China. As is evident, the statements of the Secretary of War were non-committal and he appeared to limit himself to questioning Dr. Kung. The latter, in talking of the silver policy of the United States, said that it had had a bad effect on China’s financial situation. [Page 376] He also expressed the belief that further advances by the Japanese in North China are steps in a major Japanese plan to dominate the whole of China, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies and eventually the world. Public sentiment in Japan, he claims, is being educated to the military point of view by a press which is military-controlled and backed up by Army reservists carefully schooled for the purpose of indoctrinating the public with chauvinistic ideas. Dr. Kung also indicates the difficulties which the Chinese Maritime Customs are experiencing with Japanese smugglers. Finally, he expressed his belief that the Philippine independence would be short-lived.
Respectfully yours,