893.515/463
The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Atherton) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 13.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s telegram No. 41 of March 2, 4 p.m.,67 and in this connection to forward memoranda67 of two conversations on the question of assistance to China, one on an occasion sought by the Chinese Minister68 and the other with Sir Victor Wellesley at the Foreign Office.
Apart from the information as such arising out of the conversations, two aspects of them are of interest: first, the fact that Sir Victor Wellesley states the Foreign Office will not proceed further [Page 557] until it has had a reply from the Chinese Government setting forth any considerations of proposals it has to make in the circumstances, while the Chinese Minister states very definitely that the situation in Nanking is such that the Chinese Government could not make any proposals at the present time and that the initiative must come from London or Washington. Secondly, the distinct change in the attitude of the Chinese Minister vis-à-vis Japan which his remarks indicate. He no longer inveighs against China’s Far Eastern neighbor or Japanese policy in the Far East but rather claims that Ambassador Matsudaira69 has so very ably presented the Japanese case that China’s position is neither understood nor sympathetically considered in England at the present time.
Respectfully yours,