393.1115/931: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 17—1 p.m.]
672. Department’s telegram No. 233, September 11, 4 p.m. An officer of the Embassy has received a letter from a medical missionary in the field pointing out that while the International Missionary Council is widely representative, it has no actual authority over mission boards or their missionaries. He suggests that a letter be addressed directly to the various boards stating that the Department hesitates to go over the heads of the mission boards in taking the drastic step of telling missionaries to leave China and that it desires the individual boards to write their field staffs instructing them to evacuate in accordance with consular advice. This missionary states that several of his colleagues with whom he has discussed the matter agree that this method may be more effective in obtaining the evacuation of missionaries than merely working through the International Missionary Council.