793.94/7380: Telegram
The Consul General at Shanghai (Cunningham) to the Secretary of State
Shanghai, November
15, 1935—6 p.m.
[Received November 15—2 p.m.]
[Received November 15—2 p.m.]
677. Referring to my telegram No. 674, November 14, 4 p.m.
- 1.
- Chinese continue exodus from Chapei to foreign settlements. Police estimate 10,000 came in yesterday. I have never known so many indefinite rumors of an alarming character as have reached this office during last 3 days. The Mayor of Greater Shanghai has issued statements that should reassure the Chinese residents. The Japanese Consul General has issued statement requesting calmness. It is true that the Japanese naval landing party are out in greater numbers and also the Japanese Consul General’s police are more noticeable than at any time previously other than during hostilities. There is nothing further of local importance to report.
- 2.
- There are an unusual number of Chinese who express the view privately that any Japanese military activity in the Yangtze Valley will be resisted. It is preposterous to believe the Japanese intend any military operations in this section when they only have some 2,300 men, slightly over 500 of whom are alleged replacements of the naval landing forces which arrived on the 11th. It is fairly certain that they [Page 419] were intended to be replacements as they were embarked before the Nakayama murder but it is not believed that a number have been reembarked as yet for Japan. Repeated to Embassy at Peiping, mail copy Nanking and Tokyo.
Cunningham