793.94/7833: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China (Peck) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 9—7 a.m.]
85. 1. A well-informed Chinese who arrived from Tientsin last night and who has recently been an official of the Tientsin municipal government has stated to an officer of the Embassy that General Matsumuro is pressing Tientsin Mayor Hsiao Chen Ying and General Sung Che Yuan for a written agreement providing for Sino-Japanese military cooperation against Communists.
2. Informant stated that large numbers of National Government troops continue to enter Shansi Province and his opinion tends to confirm a general belief here that Japanese objections to the despatch of such troops (reference this office’s 51, March 6, 2 p.m.) are based on the probability that they will consolidate Chiang Kai Shek’s authority in that province at the border of territory which is under Japanese influence by reason of the jurisdiction of the Hopei-Chahar Council. (Minister of Military Administration General Ho Ying Chin is understood to have flown to Taiyuan several days ago and is reported to be there at present.) Recently a Japanese spokesman here has minimized the number of Central Government forces sent to Shansi (reference this office’s 65, March 26, 3 [2] p.m.38) and 2 days ago the same spokesman informed a foreign news correspondent that only two Central Government divisions were then actually in that province, according to reports he professed to have received from Japanese military officers in Peiping.
3. To Tokyo and Tientsin by mail.
- Not printed.↩