393.1115/370: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in China (Johnson)
206. Peiping’s 493, August 29, 1 p.m. The Department has reviewed the instructions which it has already sent you in regard to the withdrawal of American citizens from China. The Department has also reviewed the information available to it which has a bearing upon [Page 302] the situation in China as it affects and may affect the safety of American citizens.
The extent and nature of future hostilities is of course unpredictable but there are signs which cannot be ignored that the conflict is widening and may be of extended duration. To the Department it appears that Americans (and other foreigners) in China must expect that their normal activities will be seriously disturbed and be subject to interference and that at almost any time their lives may become imperiled. This statement is, in the opinion of the Department, applicable not only to large cities in China but to smaller centers as well. Although remote parts of China may for the moment seem to be comparatively safe, the declared intention of the Japanese military to bomb all Chinese military encampments and the possible appearance from time to time of uncontrolled soldiers or bandits, especially at points in the interior, would be a constant source of danger to any Americans remaining at such points.
Under circumstances such as these, the likelihood is that governmental functioning will become less effective, that disorders will become more prevalent, that communications will be interrupted and that travel will become extremely hazardous.
The Department has given serious thought to the fact that most Americans now resident in China have their established occupations in that country and that withdrawal would mean serious dislocation of their work and would entail heavy sacrifice. However, the Department is of the opinion that over the course of the next few months American citizens in China will, as hostilities continue, be faced with a situation in which their work will—regardless of the choice they may make in regard to evacuation—necessarily be disturbed if not rendered impossible of continuance.
The American Government desires to fulfill its responsibilities toward all American citizens. We feel that the most appropriate and practicable method of fulfilling those responsibilities at this time is to point out to American citizens in China the hazards of the situation and to inform them that the American Government is at present in position to facilitate their withdrawal from China by means of naval vessels. We feel that American residents in China should be advised to avail themselves of these facilities while they are available. This advice to leave China applies of course only to the period during which the unusual hazards of the present situation obtain.
Such decision as American citizens may make must of course be on their own responsibility. American governmental agencies will continue to do everything practicable to facilitate the evacuation of American nationals but we cannot guarantee the safety of those who elect to remain in China under present conditions.
[Page 303]The Department desires that on the basis of the foregoing you issue a circular instruction to all American consulates in China (except Yunnanfu and offices in Manchuria) directing those offices to bring the situation as outlined above to the attention of American residents of their districts, emphasizing that the danger may increase and that it can not be guaranteed that existing opportunities and facilities for evacuation will continue indefinitely.
Please repeat to Shanghai with request that Shanghai furnish a copy to the Commander-in-Chief.