394.1153 Feiting/4: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss)
593. Your 1048, November 30, 9 p.m. Associated Press report from Shanghai states that according to William Hunt, head of the American steamship company which owns the launch, the Japanese “deliberately pulled down the flag and tossed it in the river.” Other press reports from Shanghai which are featured in the press here also state that the Japanese threw the American flag into the river. Please urgently telegraph facts in this regard.
The Department has not yet received your despatch No. 1071, November 15.18 Department desires to be informed by urgent radio (a) the date of the sale and transfer, (b) the consideration, (c) the reasons for the sale and (d) your considered opinion as to the bona fides of the transaction in the light of all the requirements of paragraphs 343–346 of the Consular Regulations. In your report also state by whom the notice indicating ownership was issued or signed. Have the Japanese given any reasons for their seizure of this launch?
The Department has no record of China Foreign Steamship Corporation and assumes that you are satisfied that it is a bona fide American concern.
The Department desires to receive as soon as possible information covering the foregoing points and any additional information which might be helpful in understanding all the pertinent facts and circumstances of this case.
- Not printed.↩