793.94/9372: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in China (Johnson)
158. Department’s 154, August 16, midnight. In a conversation which I had yesterday morning with the Chinese Ambassador at his request,32 I referred to the deplorable situation at Shanghai and said that we had been doing everything possible to urge upon both sides that they should not come into conflict and that in particular they should not fight in the vicinity of Shanghai. The Chinese Ambassador then made statements attributing the responsibility to the Japanese, and said that the Chinese had offered to withdraw their forces if the Japanese would withdraw theirs, that such an offer had been made at Shanghai and that their offer stood good. He said that he would be glad to telegraph his Government suggesting such an offer now. I made no reply.
In view of the foregoing the Department believes that it would be timely for you to supplement action reported by you in your 433, August 14, 10 p.m., by further representations along the general line taken by the Embassy at Tokyo as reported in its No. 272 of August 16, 6 p.m.33
- See memorandum of August 17, vol. iv, p. 261.↩
- For latter, see Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 347.↩