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Memorandum by the Ambassador in China (Johnson) of a Conversation With the Standing Member of the Chinese National Economic Council (Soong)34
Mr. Soong asked me whether we were sending a man to meet with Leith-Ross, the British Technical Financial Attaché. I said that there was no indication that we were sending such an Attaché.
Mr. T. V. Soong expressed the opinion, in regard to the Japanese, that they intend to take some form of drastic action in November: that they will move on to the mainland, and in any case take action to obtain control over China should a general war break out in Europe.
In regard to Hongkong, Mr. Soong stated that the Crown Colony of Hongkong was in a bad way because it had remained on silver. He said that the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation was now selling silver in the open market as fast as it could, in a desperate attempt to maintain the market. He wondered how long the bank could keep it up, and stated that Hongkong was really dependent upon the situation in China and was waiting to see what China was going to do.