793.94/8982
Memorandum by the Ambassador in China (Johnson)48
| Conversation: | Mr. A. D. Blackburn, Chinese Counselor of the British Embassy, and Mr. Johnson |
| Present: | Mr. Lockhart |
Mr. Blackburn came, at the request of his Ambassador who has left for Peitaiho, to inquire as to our attitude in regard to the question of the Joint Commission established under the 1932 agreement for the cessation of Sino-Japanese hostilities at Shanghai, and the meeting on June 23rd to consider the complaint of the Japanese regarding the rumored rebuilding of the forts at Woosung by the Chinese. Mr. Blackburn [Page 127] stated that when this matter came before their Embassy in 1935 last their opinion was that the Commission served a useful purpose as a means of permitting Chinese and Japanese to discuss in the presence of mutual witnesses any differences of opinion which they might have regarding their problems in the area between the International Settlement and Woosung. He said that they now saw in the present meeting and the way the Commission handled the matter no reason for reconsidering the stand which they then took. In other words, the British Embassy favored the continuance of the Commission, it being understood that the Commission would take no action in these matters other than that of neutral observers, and offer the Chinese and Japanese an opportunity to discuss their differences of opinion. He stated that it was the British Embassy’s feeling that the Commission had acted properly in the present instance.
I told Mr. Blackburn that it was our opinion that the Commission served a useful purpose, and that as long as they kept free of the disputes and merely acted as neutral observers I saw no reason why they should not continue. I read to Mr. Blackburn the text of the letter which I am sending to the Consul General at Shanghai approving of his action at the time, and quoting from longhand minutes which I kept of the negotiations in March and April, 1932, in which I recorded the declaration of the Chinese to the effect that nothing in the agreement should be interpreted as implying any permanent restriction of the movement of Chinese troops in Chinese territory, a declaration which was accepted by the Japanese.
Mr. Blackburn stated that the Japanese position apparently was that the Commission should continue to function until the “later arrangements” mentioned in Article II of the agreement of May 5, 1932, had been effected through the means of a round-table conference,—a conference which they had suggested at the time of the negotiations and which they apparently still hoped could be held. It was his opinion that at such a conference the Japanese would insist upon the demilitarization of Shanghai. I agreed with Mr. Blackburn and stated that at the time of the negotiations we were not interested in a round-table conference, nor were we now interested in one.
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in China in his despatch No. 1313, July 1; received July 26.↩