393.115 President Hoover/3: Telegram
The Ambassador in China ( Johnson ) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 30—11:55 a.m.]
564. I have this evening sent following note to Minister for Foreign Affairs.29
“Dear Mr. Minister: I regret to inform you that I am just informed by telephone from Shanghai that the American ship S. S. President Hoover was bombed today by Chinese planes while approaching Yangtze Light at the mouth of the Yangtze River 50 miles from Shanghai. The President Hoover which carried all possible identifications as an American ship was damaged above the water line and a number of people on board were injured, some seriously. I hereby protest this inexcusable assault upon an American merchant ship and state that I must hold the Chinese Government responsible for damage done.”
- Wang Chung-hui.↩