893.5151 Manchuria/27
The Vice Consul at Mukden (Davies) to the Ambassador in China (Johnson)75
Sir: I have the honor to report that on December 2, at the same time that I made oral representations to the Director of the Foreign Office concerning proposed infringement of American extraterritorial [Page 948] rights,* the British Consul General at Mukden, Mr. P. D. Butler, protested against the discriminatory features of the recently revised exchange control law.†
The Director of the Foreign Office, Mr. Ohashi, admitted that the law in its present form discriminates specifically in favor of Japan and Japanese currency. He then stated that he is seeking to have substituted for the words “Japan” and “Japanese currency” in the clauses objected to by the American and British Governments, some such reading as “those countries which have entered into an agreement with Manchoukuo for the maintenance of their respective currencies at a stable ratio.”
Mr. Butler replied that such a revision would not alter his Government’s objection to the clauses in question.
The proposed substitution, Mr. Ohashi intimated, is designed to remove the overt discrimination in favor of Japan and Japanese currency, thereby remedying “Manehukuo’s” literal violation of the principle of the Open Door. In any event, it is quite likely that Mr. Ohashi’s recommendation will not be acted upon.
The Director’s anxiety over these legal niceties relating to the Open Door is in contrast to his disregard of “Manchukuo’s” pledges concerning extraterritoriality. In the light of Hsinking’s desire for American investments in Manchuria,‡ however, the Director’s concern over maintaining the fiction of the Open Door is understandable.
Respectfully yours,
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Vice Consul at Mukden in his unnumbered despatch of December 7; received January 11, 1938.↩
- Despatch No. 175, December 3; Representations Concerning Extraterritorial Rights. [Footnote in the original; despatch not printed. See telegram No. 800, December 3, 5 p.m., from the Counselor of Embassy in China, p. 946.]↩
- This office’s action in connection with the revised exchange control law is the subject of despatch No. 158, October 30, 1937; Discriminatory Features of Exchange Control Law. [Footnote in the original; despatch not printed. See telegram No. 713, October 30, 3 p.m., from the Counselor of Embassy in China, p. 933.]↩
- Despatch No. 160, November 10, 1937, Visit to Hsinking; No. 168, November 17, 1937, Rumored American Investments in “Manchukuo”; Harbin’s telegram No. 30 to Peiping Embassy, November 18, 2 p.m. [Footnote in the original; neither despatch printed; for text of telegram No. 30, see telegram No. 775, November 22, 6 p.m., from the Counselor of Embassy in China, p. 937.]↩