793.94/8294: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
514. The following telegram has been received from Shanghai:
“October 23, 11 a.m. I am informed confidentially that the Japanese Counselor of Embassy who serves concurrently as Consul General at Shanghai states that the Sino-Japanese negotiations at Nanking have almost reached a deadlock. He is also quoted to the effect that the Japanese authorities are annoyed that while these negotiations have been proceeding Chiang Kai Shek has been making military dispositions which are not consonant with a desire for a peaceful settlement of the outstanding issues.
Abend has informed Consulate General [at] Shanghai that T. V. Soong recently expressed the view that as China and Japan had gone to such lengths in the present negotiations in making demands and counter demands, it would be extremely difficult for either side to retreat from its present position without irreparable loss of prestige and face.[”]
- Telegram in two sections.↩