Office of the Historian

793.943 Manchuria/38: Telegram

The Counselor of Embassy in China (Lockhart) to the Secretary of State

Peiping, December 3, 1937—5 p.m.
[Received December 3—7 a.m.]

800. Department’s 382, November 28, 3 p.m. The following telegram has been received from Mukden:

“No. 13, December 3, 9 a.m. Yesterday I called on the Director of the Foreign Office [and made representations as] set forth in the Embassy’s telegram of November 29, 4 p.m.

In reply to my representations the Director stated:

(1)
To allow American extraterritorial rights to continue would be to discriminate against Japanese nationals;
(2)
Manchukuo as a successor state does not acknowledge treaty obligations contracted by the previous regime concerning personal rights, in which category he placed extraterritorial rights;
(3)
The abrogation of extraterritoriality is a fixed national policy;
(4)
Because the United States does not recognize Manchukuo, the presentation to him of the American Government’s objections to any action taken by his government cannot be expected to exert any influence.

Despatch follows.71 Please repeat to Department.”

Repeated to Tokyo and Hankow.

Lockhart
  1. Despatch No. 175, December 3, not printed.↩