700.0011 Pacific/8: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Bingham) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 4—3:40 p.m.]
347. I saw the Chinese Ambassador7 this morning, who told me of his conversation with Lyons and corroborated Lyons’ statement to me in full, so far as the pact in the Pacific was concerned (see my 348, June 4, 4 p.m.8). We went on to say that British and American rearmament and the growing strength of China through its progress towards unification, coupled with high taxation in Japan and the burden of carrying out rigorous military policy of aggression, had strengthened the hand of such liberal element as existed in Japan and had prepared the way, as he believed, for Japanese adherence to [Page 983] a non-aggression pact. His idea of such a pact was along the lines of the Kellogg-Briand Pact especially including a provision for consultation. He told me that he knew the new Chinese Ambassador to Washington9 had gone there with instructions to take up this subject, but did not know but that he had postponed doing so awaiting the results of the Imperial Conference. He was sure the Washington Ambassador knew now that the Imperial Conference had firmly committed itself to the creation of such a pact. I asked him where he thought the initiative should come and he said he had no doubt it should come from the Imperial Conference itself.
He continued to stress the strides he felt his country was making towards unification and said that he himself had never subscribed to the policy of attempting to subdue communism by force. He said that the incidents surrounding the kidnaping of Chiang Kai Shek and his release had educated Chiang to this view and had contributed largely to a union of forces in China for the purpose of resisting Japanese aggression. He mentioned also that the two great southwest provinces, which had always been semi-autonomous, were now in full accord with Nanking and that he believed that if China could have 5 years of relief from Japanese aggression through the pact he advocates, the Chinese people would by that time be so strong through their unification they could not only defend themselves against further Japanese aggression but could play a controlling part in maintaining peace in the Far East.