793.94119/432: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 29—11 p.m.]
376. Minister for Foreign Affairs22 called upon me on evening of July 24 and asked me to express to you the hope that at a favorable moment, and before Japan should recognize any puppet regime at Nanking or Peiping (thus as he said closing the back door to negotiations, the front door having been closed by the statement of the Japanese Government last January that they would refuse to recognize or treat with what they termed the Chiang Kai Shek government), the Government of the United States, taking parallel action with Great Britain (and possibly France), would extend to both Japan and to China an offer of good offices to bring both sides together to bring to an end the present hostilities without, of course, mentioning that such an offer was made at the suggestion of the Chinese. He expressed the further hope that if stich an offer of good offices should fail of its purpose and Japan should proceed to set up and recognize a new regime in Nanking or elsewhere the United States Government would notify both China and Japan, as it had done in 191523 in connection with the 21 demands, that it refused to recognize such a regime and reserve its position and rights under existing treaties between China and the United States.
This move should not in my opinion be interpreted as indicating a readiness on the part of the Chinese Government to make a compromise agreement with the Japanese. Chinese appear to believe that Japan is approaching a point where they might be expected to withdraw from China, citing Japanese reaction to French attitude on the subject of Hainan Island and Soviet occupation of hill overlooking strategic Eashin–Hunchun Railway24 (which Chinese authorities insist is on the Chinese sidfe of the boundary as contended by the Japanese) as indicating weakening of Japanese spirit.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that the Chinese Government intended to make every effort to defend Hankow, making its capture expensive as possible to the Japanese. He stated that Japanese people were well aware that the Japanese were tired of the war, that they were beginning to realize that they could not make a conquest of China, that the present campaign for Hankow would either result in its capture at great expense to the Japanese or a deadlock and that therefore a moment might present itself when an offer of [Page 239] good offices by the United States and Great Britain would be listened to by the Japanese. China, he pointed out, could not sue for peace and Japan would not, but an offer from a friendly and disinterested outsider might make it possible for the Japanese to climb down from a difficult position.
The Department has already received my estimate of the situation here in my 362 of July 19, 3 p.m. I feel certain that the Chinese Government will not collapse and sue for peace when Hankow falls. Minister for Foreign Affairs confirms this view. I am of course not in any position to say whether the time might or may have come when an offer of good offices to Japan by the United States and Great Britain would be useful. I shall repeat this message to Tokyo in order that Grew may have an opportunity to comment upon this phase of the matter.
Foreign Minister expects that if we refuse to recognize position established by the Japanese by force in contravention of Kellogg Pact and Nine Power Treaty and made reservation of our position and rights under existing treaties between us and China we would be in a position to assert those rights if and when by conference these present hostilities may be brought to a close.
British Ambassador informs me that Minister for Foreign Affairs made a proposal similar in all respects to the above (which I have made known to him) and that he is transmitting it to his Government upon his arrival in Hong Kong about August 3.
- Dr. Wang Chung-hui.↩
- See telegram of May 11, 1915, 5 p.m., Foreign Relations, 1915, p. 146.↩
- See also pp. 441.↩