793.94/9139
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hornbeck)
The Chinese Ambassador asked me to dine informally with him last Saturday evening, July 31. Upon my arrival at his house, the Ambassador showed me a paper which purported to be a translation of a telegram which he had received on Saturday afternoon from the Chinese Ambassador at London, Dr. Quo. In the telegram Dr. Quo stated that the British Foreign Office was giving thought to the question of a possible invoking of the Nine Power Treaty but they had made the observation that to do so would require “some preparation.” The Ambassador asked whether I could elucidate for him the American Government’s position. I replied that I did not feel in position to do so; that I wished to leave anything that might be said in that connection to be said by the Secretary of State.
After dinner, when taking leave, I took occasion to say to the Ambassador that, while I was not willing to speak regarding express points of high policy, I felt that I would be warranted in referring to statements which have repeatedly been made by Chinese leaders during recent years to the effect that China must cease to expect the foreign powers to fight her battles or take action which might be in the nature of taking sides in relation to Chinese-Japanese controversies. I said that, speaking as an observer and as between friends rather than as between officials, I could make the observation that the safest thing for any country to do is to frame its policies and conduct its activities on the basis of the best estimate that it can make of its own capacity without reference to the possibility of assistance from any other country or group of countries: if assistance comes from outside sources, so much to the good; but if any country bases its plans on expectation of assistance from others and then when the time comes the assistance is not forthcoming, it may frequently happen that there [Page 313] is not only disappointment and disillusionment but disaster. The Ambassador said that he had in mind all these things. I mentioned the statements which the Secretary has made repeatedly since July 12 urging that peace be maintained, and the conversation there ended.