793.94/12460: Telegram
The Third Secretary of Embassy in China (Allison) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6:39 p.m.]
61. I am pleased to be able to report that within the past 10 days there have been a noticeable improvement in conditions in Nanking. Most of the Chinese are returning from the so-called “safety zone” to former homes in other parts of the city. While reports still come in from time to time of disorder and unlawful acts of Japanese soldiers, the number of such reports has materially decreased and there is definite evidence that the Japanese authorities are making efforts to better the present living conditions of the local population. Restrictions on movements of foreigners are gradually being loosened, and permission has recently been obtained for the return to Nanking of an American doctor whose presence is urgently needed at the Nanking University Hospital, an American institution.
Sent to Embassy [at] Hankow, repeated to Department, Peiping and Shanghai. Shanghai please repeat to Tokyo.