711.00 Pres. Speech, Oct. 5, 1937/122
The Chinese Ambassador (C. T. Wang) to President Roosevelt
My Dear Mr. President: I have the honor to inform you that Dr. H. H. Kung, Vice President of the Executive Yuan and concurrently Minister of Finance at Nanking, who is now on his way to China [Page 596] from Europe, has requested me to forward to you the following telegraphic message:
“Allow me to congratulate you on behalf of my country and myself for your Chicago speech which will go down in history as the most courageous and statesman-like statement ever made. It clarifies for the world the vital issues involved in Japan’s policy of armed aggression and strikes at the very core of the problem of world peace and security. Ringing through a world horrified with Japanese lawlessness and brutalism your timely message sounds the clarion call to all who cherish the ideals of justice and humanity and uphold the cause of international peace and order.
Driven by frantic belief in divine mission and unbound lust for power and supremacy and encouraged by world’s inaction towards her Manchurian invasion, Japan’s militarists are ruthlessly seeking the conquest of China as a means towards realizing their frantic dream of world domination. As an individual seeks to rid the community of the robber who attacked his next-door neighbor, so must peace loving nations take concerted action to check Japan’s aggression in time lest they in turn will be forced to bear the burden of defending themselves against the public enemy of peace and humanity. A nation ignoring the dangers of destructive forces cannot live in peace but will find war brought to its very doors however peace-loving it may be. It is my sincere hope that America under your leadership will lead the world in taking active and effective measures to safeguard world peace and democracy. For this very object China though handicapped in many ways is determined to resist the common aggressor cost what it may for otherwise not only the Pacific, but the whole world will have no peace and security.”
In forwarding the above message to you, I avail myself of this occasion to add my personal felicitations.8
I am [etc.]
- President Roosevelt subsequently acknowledged this message.↩