793.94/12393
The Secretary of State to the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs (McReynolds)
My Dear Mr. McReynolds: The receipt is acknowledged of a letter of February 9, 1938, from Mr. I. R. Barnes, Clerk of the Committee [Page 85] on Foreign Affairs,30 asking the Department to furnish the Committee on Foreign Affairs a report, in duplicate, on H. Res. 418, “Requesting the President of the United States to furnish certain information pertaining to the diplomatic relationship between Japan and China”.31
With regard to the inquiry contained in section (1) of the Resolution, the Department has information to the effect that, although the Japanese Ambassador to China has returned to Japan, the Counselor of the Embassy has remained in China as Chargé d’Affaires.
With regard to the inquiry contained in section (2) of the Resolution, the Department has been informed that the Chinese Ambassador to Japan returned to China under instruction from his Government but that he was not handed his credentials by the Japanese Government, and that the Counselor of the Chinese Embassy has remained in Japan as Chargé d’Affaires. On January 21 the spokesman of the Japanese Foreign Office made a statement to the press as follows: “Although it has ceased to deal with General Chiang Kai-Shek’s regime, the Japanese Government will continue to accord diplomatic and consular privileges to Chinese diplomatic and consular officials representing the National Government.” It appears to be the view of the Japanese Government that the de jure status of the Japanese and Chinese diplomatic and consular officials in China and Japan, respectively, remains unchanged.
With regard to the inquiry in section (3) of the Resolution, it is believed that the remark attributed to Mr. Hirota as quoted in the Resolution is based upon a press report from Tokyo under date February 2 which refers to a statement made in the Diet on February 2. The Department has been officially informed that there was no session of the Diet on February 2 and that the press report probably has reference to Mr. Hirota’s statement in the Diet under date January 25. There is enclosed a translation of the pertinent portion of that statement as telegraphed to the Department.32 It will be observed that the remark quoted in the Resolution does not occur in the statement and the Department has no information indicating that Mr. Hirota made such a remark. The comment may be made in this connection that replies to interpellations in the Diet generally consist of impromptu remarks which are at times characterized by ambiguity which while often passing unnoticed in a language as vague and impersonal as the Japanese language may be lacking in clarity and be subject to misconstruction when translated into English. However, it would appear to be clear from the statement of Mr. Hirota that Japan has not declared war upon China and that Mr. Hirota does not consider that a de jure state of war exists between the two countries. In this connection [Page 86] attention is invited to his statement that “In the light of the situation in China and in international relations we have not yet taken the step of declaring war”.
With regard to section (4) of H. Res. 418, there must be taken into account, in deciding whether the President should be advised in regard to the invocation of the Joint Resolution approved May 1, 1937,33 commonly referred to as the Neutrality Act, various factors—and especially the broad, general interest of this country and its nationals. In the present situation in the Far East, the President has been of the opinion that, in the light of all of the facts and circumstances, and with due and conscientious consideration of both the letter and the spirit of the neutrality legislation, the intent of that legislation and the general interests of this country and its nationals are best served by not invoking the provisions of the Joint Resolution.
Sincerely yours,