Office of the Historian

793.94119/406: Telegram

The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State

Hankow, March 16, 1938—11 a.m.
[Received March 16—10:10 a.m.]

163. Department’s 87, February 28, 6 p.m. Doctor J. Leighton Stuart92 arrived in Hankow on March 11. I saw Minister for Foreign Affairs93 afternoon March 12 and communicated to him Department’s message. Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that he thoroughly understood and said that he would convey information to members of Government who might be approached by Stuart. I saw Stuart on March 15. He stated that he had had an interview with the Generalissimo but had not communicated Wang Keh Min’s94 message as he discovered very quickly that there was no basis for any hope of mediation. Stuart said that his visit to Hankow had convinced him that peace between China and Japan was not yet possible.

Repeated to Peiping and Shanghai. Shanghai please repeat to Tokyo.

Johnson
  1. American, president of Yenching University, near Peiping.↩
  2. Wang Chung-hui.↩
  3. Head of Japanese-sponsored regime at Peiping.↩