793.94/9612
Memorandum by the Counselor of Embassy in China (Peck)75
| Conversation: | Dr. Wang Chung-hui, Minister for Foreign Affairs; |
| Mr. Johnson; | |
| Present: | Mr. Peck. |
After preliminary remarks, Dr. Wang said that he might tell Mr. Johnson confidentially that General Sung Che-yuan had communicated to the National Government the three terms of the agreement arrived at between General Sung and the Japanese military. The three terms were identical with those already published in the press.
Mr. Johnson observed that two of the terms as published in the press seemed to have been carried out or to be in the process of execution, namely, an apology from the Chinese to the Japanese and the withdrawal of Chinese troops, the 37th Division being in process of withdrawal from Peiping southward, and of being replaced by the 132nd Division. The third term, including suppression of Communist activities, seemed more vague. However, when he left Peiping on July 23 the tension seemed to have been greatly eased.
[Page 259]Dr. Wang said that the Chinese Government was still very apprehensive of an impending major clash. This apprehension was caused by the reports received by the National Government of still continuing mobilization in Japan and transportation into North China of Japanese troops and munitions. The reports stated that morning, afternoon and evening such reenforcements were continually coming down the railway from Shanhaikwan into Tientsin and were then being despatched toward the Peiping area.
Dr. Wang said that the so-called “incident” which took place on July 7–8 was after all merely an incident and was easily susceptible of settlement. This incident could not account for the mobilization in Japan and the continuing arrival of Japanese reenforcements already described; the Chinese Government was convinced that the Japanese Government must still have a major objective and had accepted the present truce merely as a means of bringing about a lull during which preparations might be made for the attainment of the major objective in North China.
Mr. Johnson made the comment that the Japanese forces had not achieved anything with regard to North China; they had merely produced a change in the status of Tientsin and Peiping.
Dr. Wang said that the Chinese Government did not know where the next blow would fall, whether in Hopei Province as a whole, or in Shantung, or elsewhere.
Dr. Wang said that General Chiang Kai-shek had made the position of the Chinese Government perfectly clear in his address which was published a few days ago. In that address he had indicated four points as a minimum beyond which the Chinese Government could not yield anything to Japan. Over and above that minimum there was opportunity for negotiation with the Japanese, but the very term “minimum” meant that the reservations indicated in the “four points” could not be diminished in any way. The Chinese Government was very anxious to avoid a war with Japan and would be willing to negotiate with Japan any issues not violating the four minimum reservations. General Chiang was convinced by the continued arrival of Japanese reenforcements and munitions in Hopei Province that the Japanese did not intend to accept the minimum reservations and that renewed hostilities on a major scale could not be avoided unless such reenforcements were stopped immediately and the principal Powers interested in the Far East were to take more positive steps than those taken hitherto to induce Japan to negotiate with China for a fundamental settlement of issues between the two countries.
Dr. Wang told Mr. Johnson he had told Mr. Hidaka, Counselor of the Japanese Embassy in Nanking, as early as July 12 that the Chinese Government would be willing to agree to an immediate cessation [Page 260] of troop movements into Hopei by both sides and thereafter to discuss outstanding issues, but no reply to this proposal had been received. The same offer had been reiterated in the Chinese reply of July 19 to the Japanese memorandum of July 17; still no reply had been received and movements of Japanese troops into Hopei continued. The Chinese offer seemed a reasonable one, because both sides asserted that reenforcements were being brought into Hopei merely as a measure of self-defence. If the excuse of self-defence could be removed, re-enforcements could cease and the so-called “incident” could be settled through negotiation. The refusal of the Japanese to adopt this obvious course was another reason why the Chinese Government felt sure that the Japanese Government had a larger objective in view than the mere settlement of the Lukouchiao Bridge incident.
Mr. Johnson particularly inquired whether the Chinese Government had positive evidence that Japanese troops were continuing to come into Tientsin down the railway from Shanhaikwan, because his information was that no additional Japanese troops had arrived over this route during the last couple of days. Dr. Wang replied that reports received from the railway confirmed the fact that additional Japanese reenforcements were continually arriving.
Dr. Wang admitted that the Japanese assertion that troops were not being sent from Japan proper to China might be true, since it appeared that Japanese troops were going from Japan to Korea and Manchuria and that the troops arriving in Hopei Province were drawn from either Korea or Manchuria. The Japanese assertion was, therefore, merely a subterfuge. Nevertheless, the Japanese Premier had officially announced that mobilization was taking place in Japan, Korea and Manchuria.
Dr. Wang said that General Chiang was very anxious to see Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson said that he held himself ready and willing to see General Chiang at any time that might be set;76 he had come down from Peiping to Nanking for this express purpose. Mr. Johnson remarked that he had thought it advisable to remain in Peiping until recently so that he might be in a sense an “official witness” of what might transpire there.
Dr. Wang dwelt at some length on conflicting reports concerning the alleged disappearance of a Japanese sailor from the International Settlement on the evening of July 24. He said the Japanese and Chinese authorities had each informed the other of an intention not to magnify importance of this incident.