393.1115/1950: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss)
571. Your 982, November 18, 9 a.m.7 We have carefully considered your reasoned statement of the situation and, while anxious to avoid [Page 381] doing anything which would encourage American women and children to return to Shanghai prematurely, are inclined to concur in your opinion that the question of returning is a matter for the exercise of individual discretion on the part of concerned Americans. We realize that the prolonged temporary residence in territories contiguous to China, such as Manila, of American women and children who are bona fide residents of Shanghai probably inconveniences many of them financially and otherwise, and therefore, in the absence of definite indications that the necessity for their subsequent evacuation will arise or that they would be seriously endangered by conditions at Shanghai, we do not wish to adopt an attitude which would cause a prolongation of the emergency conditions under which they are now living. However, we feel that those Americans who are not being subjected to serious inconvenience through continued absence from Shanghai should await a more decided improvement in conditions before returning.
You may in your discretion communicate the sense of the foregoing to the American Red Cross at Manila for its guidance in applicable cases but not for public announcement, and to Americans who may direct inquiries to you. You will of course also inform the Red Cross and such Americans that, inasmuch as conditions in Shanghai are not yet normal, as the danger factor is not entirely eliminated, as epidemic disease is a possibility, and as subsequent evacuation would constitute a very serious problem, those American women and children who return do so on their own responsibility in full knowledge of the risks involved. Government funds should not be advanced for return to China.
With regard to the return of families of consular officers and women clerks, although it does not appear advisable for the present to authorize their return to Shanghai, the Department has the matter under consideration and desires to receive your further comments on this point as the situation unfolds.
Please repeat by mail to Consuls at Manila (for information High Commissioner) and Hong Kong; also to Consul General at Tokyo for transmission to all Consuls in Japan.
- Not printed.↩