793.94/10310a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)57
232. On September 25 the Counselor of the Japanese Embassy called on an officer of the Department58 in regard to another matter and on his own initiative mentioned the notice issued by the Japanese [Page 555] admiral at Shanghai of the project to bomb Nanking. The Counselor said that the Japanese naval and military authorities had no intention of bombing other than military objectives. Comment was made to the Counselor that we had received a number of assurances from the Japanese Government to that effect but the fact remained that the Japanese bombing operations were resulting in the killing of large numbers of non-combatants; and that this killing of non-combatants not only at Nanking but at Canton, at Hankow and other places in China could not but create the most deplorable impression in this and in other countries. The Counselor said that there were of course a number of Chinese military fortifications and organizations in Nanking, both inside and outside the city wall. In comment on this, the Counselor was informed that although this might be the case, there were large areas in the city which were non-military in character and the Japanese bombing operations were causing the death of non-combatants in those areas. The comment was repeated that this whole matter of bombing non-combatants was deplorable and was creating a most unfortunate impression.
- Sent as No. 269, September 27, 7 p.m., to the Ambassador in China at Nanking.↩
- See memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs, September 25, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 505.↩