793.94/12162: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China (Lockhart) to the Secretary of State
Peiping, January 21, 1938—3
p.m.
[Received January 21—8:05 a.m.]
[Received January 21—8:05 a.m.]
45. Embassy’s 36, January 18, 4 p.m.60
- 1.
- The headquarters of the Japanese forces in North China have been transferred from Tientsin to Peiping. General Terauchi arrived yesterday, stating that the primary reason for the transfer is military, that he may be able to render personal assistance to the new Government and to cooperate in the execution of administrative policies, that due to the absence of sincerity on the part of the National Government, the Japanese Government has been compelled to take steps to cease dealing with the National Government, and that his entire efforts will be directed toward complete extermination of the Kuomintang Army and the construction and consolidation of “the new and rising China”.
- 2.
- The transfer of the headquarters has been under consideration for some time. Presumably the delay in transfer was due to a decision not to take a step which might create an additional hindrance to Sino-Japanese negotiations, a reason which however ceased to exist with Japan’s decision not to deal without [with the?] National Government. The primary reason for the transfer seems to be, as Terauchi said, military, as Peiping is from the viewpoint of strategic communications more important than Tientsin. The new Chinese regime can scarcely welcome the change as its puppet character will thus be emphasized. Japanese claim that the transfer is not related to Japanese dissatisfaction with Wang Keh Min.61
Repeated to the Ambassador by mail to Tokyo.
Lockhart