793.94 Conference/262: Telegram
The Chairman of the American Delegation (Davis) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 17—11:10 a.m.]
40. After the session Monday afternoon Wellington Koo called on us while Quo Tai Chi98a was calling on the British delegation.
Koo seemed worried and spoke with great earnestness. He said he had urgent telegrams from Nanking and wished to inform us of certain facts in the situation in China: that the military situation on the Shanghai front is becoming grave; that the Chinese have had to make a much greater effort with more rapid expenditure of munitions than had been calculated a few weeks ago; that the concentration of Japanese forces in the Shanghai area has become formidable; the Chinese need time in which to reform their position and need replenishment of their military supplies; unless these can be had or some form of mediation be effected they may be compelled before a great while to give up Nanking, and they might have to consider seriously efforts which Germany and Italy are urgently making to inject themselves into the situation in some kind of a mediatory role. He wondered whether the Conference might not do something toward bringing about a military truce and facilitating acquisition by China of new supplies. He said that the French have for 3 weeks been holding up in Indo-China two German ships which have large cargoes of munitions, making the excuses, first, that there is a provision in the Treaty of Versailles99 which prohibits manufacture of munitions by Germany, and second, that the Japanese have threatened to take Hainan and otherwise retaliate while Great Britain and the United States decline to give France an assurance of support against such possible action on the part of Japan. Assurance that new supplies would arrive within a few weeks would enable Chinese morale to [Page 200] retain its vigor. Could not the United States and Great Britain do something with the French and toward making supplies available to China? I said that this was a question which might best be taken up at Washington and London.
Koo summarized with three suggestions: (1) that the Conference take some action of a specific character showing that it takes the situation seriously, not providing for sanctions but providing for some form of help which would help to enable China to keep on fighting and preserve her morale; (2) some sort of a military demonstration on the part of the Soviet Union and a naval demonstration on the part of other powers; (3) making military supplies available. Action on these lines might, he felt, deter Japan from pressing on with a campaign directed at the taking of Nanking.
To an inquiry regarding the internal situation in Japan, Koo replied that there has been in Japan more dissensions with regard to general policy and strategy than is generally realized; but that the recent partial military successes of the Japanese Army have strengthened Japanese morale and tended to produce greater unity of view in Japan.
To an expression of surprise at hearing of imminent exhaustion of China’s military supplies and power to resist in view of estimates heretofore given us by Chinese indicating that the exhaustion point would not be approached before January or even March, Koo said that he did not mean to intimate that approach to exhaustion was immediately at hand; that what he meant was that as it takes many weeks for supplies after expedition to reach China serious thought must be given to having the supplies on their way soon in order that they may arrive in time to meet the serious need which will exist a very few weeks hence; that while fighting one needs to have assurance that he can continue to fight so that he can make effective plans and his morale be maintained.
- Chinese Ambassador in the United Kingdom.↩
- Article 170 of the Treaty, Foreign Relations, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, vol. xiii, p. 328.↩