793.003/856: Telegram
The Secretary of State to
the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Bingham)
Washington, March 27,
1937—noon.
107. The Department desires that you seek an early opportunity to call
upon an appropriate officer of the Foreign Office and make to him an
oral statement (leaving with him as record of such oral statement a
strictly confidential aide-mémoire) substantially
as follows:
- “1. The Department of State has for some time been giving
thought to the question of the possible practicability of
there being made by the American Government an approach to
the Chinese Government
[Page 640]
suggesting resumption of the
extraterritorial[ity] negotiations which were interrupted in
1931 and have since been in abeyance. It has been our
thought that the practicability of making such an approach
should be considered in terms of the possibility of the
approach being made simultaneously and on parallel lines by
the American and the British Governments. It has been felt
that the question of the opportuneness of such action at
this time largely depends upon the question whether the
resumption of such negotiations would be likely to have a
disturbing effect upon the general situation in the Far
East, with special reference to Sino-Japanese relations, and
the question of the likelihood of the Chinese Government
being willing to accept a draft of a treaty following
substantially the lines of the American draft of July 14,
1931. (The American draft is similar to the British draft of
June 6, 1931, except for Article 16: Reserve Areas,34 a copy
of which article together with a copy of the Department’s
memorandum35 was
enclosed in Mr. Atherton’s letter of July 25, 1931, to Mr.
Orde.36)
- 2. Our Embassy in China has reported that during the
recent plenary session of the Central Executive Committee
there was adopted a resolution calling upon the Chinese
Government to conduct negotiations for the abolition of
extraterritorial jurisdiction. This resolution, quoted in an
instruction to the Executive Yuan of March 6, was published
in the National Government Gazette of
March 9 but otherwise it has received little publicity. Our
Embassy has received no intimation as to what action the
Chinese Government will take in the matter.
- 3. Our Embassy has expressed the view that the resumption
of extraterritoriality negotiations would not have a
disturbing effect upon the general situation in the Far
East; also the further view that in the light of China’s
request for unqualified abrogation of extraterritorial
jurisdiction, as contained in the Chinese Foreign Office’s
note of January 18, 1934,37 in regard to the Sino-American
Commercial Treaty of 1903,38 and in the
light of the recent instruction to the Executive Yuan
referred to above, we could expect no great advantage from
volunteering a proposal of a compromise and that it would be
better to await a new initiative by the Chinese Government.
The Embassy expressed the view also that China would insist
upon an agreement for a much more far-reaching abrogation of
extraterritorial rights than that envisaged in 1931.
- 4. As it seems likely that pursuant to the instruction to
the Executive Yuan referred to above the Chinese Government
will in due course approach the interested foreign
governments, there would appear to be a choice of two lines
of action, one, that of a foreign government, or foreign
governments, taking the initiative in approaching the
Chinese Government, and the other, that of awaiting a move
on the part of the Chinese Government.
- 5. The Department feels that the question of
extraterritoriality in China is a matter in which the
British and American Governments have similar interests and
concern and that the two Governments might advantageously
continue as in the past to collaborate with each other. The
American Government would therefore appreciate receiving the
views and observations of the British Government in the
premises.
- 6. It may be added that the American Government has not
approached any other government in regard to the
matter.”
Inform Department by cable of date when you make this communication and
of any observations or comments offered by Foreign Office official.39
