793.94/8960: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Bullitt) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 24—11:25 a.m.]
1037. Delbos gave me last evening a detailed account of a conversation he had had yesterday afternoon with the Japanese Chargé d’Affaires.
The Japanese Chargé d’Affaires had first thanked him on behalf of the Japanese Government for his kindness in offering to mediate between Japan and China; but had said that his Government was of the opinion that the question would only be complicated by the intrusion of any third party. There was an excellent chance yesterday that the dispute would be settled without war. The Japanese Foreign Office was most anxious to avoid war and was convinced that General Chiang Kai-shek also desired to avoid war. The leaders of two of the Chinese divisions in the Peiping area also desired to avoid war. The leader of the other division desired to fight. The officer who had ordered the original firing on the Japanese troops had already been punished.
The Japanese Chargé d’Affaires had then asked him if it were true that England had proposed joint intervention by England, France, and the United States. He had denied this. The Japanese Chargé d’Affaires had then asked if the Soviet Union had asked for joint action by France and the Soviet Union. He had denied this also. Delbos assured me that the Soviet Union had had no serious discussion whatsoever with France with respect to the present situation in the Far East.