762.94/147

The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State

No. 288

Sir: I have the honor to transmit memoranda of conversations17 which I have had with the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs and my French and German colleagues relative to the recent Japanese-German agreement.

The Department will observe:

(1)
That the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs expresses the belief that this agreement was instigated by the Japanese rather than by the Germans;
(2)
That the French Ambassador quotes Mr. Suma, Japanese First Secretary and Consul General, as stating that the agreement was not in any sense a treaty of alliance; and
(3)
That the German Ambassador has endeavored to make it clear to the Chinese Government that the German Government has no intention whatever of inviting other governments to participate in the agreement.

It is perhaps not without significance to note that the German Ambassador made the comment that the Japanese might be putting a different interpretation upon the agreement from that placed upon it by the Germans.

Respectfully yours,

Nelson Trusler Johnson
  1. None printed.