893.51/6745: Telegram
The Chargé in China (Peck) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 20—12:15 a.m.]
607. Department’s 6 [650], December 15, 7 p.m.70 News of the granting of credits to be used in financing the exportation of American products to China which reached Chungking almost simultaneously with reports from London of the imminent granting of British credits to China was greeted in Chinese official and private circles with marked elation. The Minister of Finance is reported in the press as having expressed gratification “at this further evidence of America’s friendly interest in China’s progress and development, which China will not forget”. “This credit,” Dr. Kung is quoted as saying, [Page 589] “will further the development of China’s economic potentialities and will enlarge American trade in China”.
The local press has given much prominence to the matter of which the motive [view?] of the Ta Kung Pao on December 17 is representative. This journal emphasizes that the credit is purely commercial, that it constitutes a fresh testimonial of Sino-American friendship, that China despite financial difficulties will continue to fulfill its financial obligations, and that though purely a commercial transaction it will have the political effect of dealing a blow to Japanese aggression. This paper expresses the hope that the granting of these credits will cause Great Britain to follow suit. The China Times comments that the significance of the granting of credits lies not in their amount but in their implications which in its view amount to the first step on the part of Great Britain and the United States in making a “concrete reply” to Japan’s wish to set up a new order in East Asia and that they constitute a warning that “Chinese cooperation with the European powers and the United States cannot be destroyed.” The fact that the credits came after the fall of Wuhan is noted and the conclusion drawn that Anglo-American recognition of the National Government has not been affected by military or political developments. The extension of Anglo-American credits to China is held not only to manifest the traditional friendship existing between China and these Anglo-Saxon powers but to reflect the commencement by Great Britain and the United States of steps to implement the League resolutions to assist China.
Repeated to Peiping for mailing to Tokyo.