Office of the Historian

793.94/11940: Telegram

The Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss) to the Secretary of State

Shanghai, January 2, 1938—noon.
[Received 2 p.m.]

3. Japanese Consul General has addressed letter to Senior Consul saying that Japanese military and naval authorities desire to obtain from the Consuls General of interested powers in Shanghai all available information on the exact location of properties of the third powers both private and Government owned which are to be declared within or near the zone of the present hostilities with a view to preventing the occurrence of any unfortunate incident relative to such foreign properties. Letter states that some colleagues have already [Page 215] furnished information on foreign property in particular districts but in view of the activities of the Japanese forces extending gradually to the inland of China it is desired to have further information with as much detail as available and preferably with copies of maps concerning the foreign properties that are found in any important cities and towns in the interior of China.

2. All available information on the Shanghai District was supplied to the Japanese some time ago under authority of the Department’s 270, August 24th to Shanghai.89 A later request for further information for all China was dealt with in Nanking’s No. 745, October 1, 1 [3] p.m.,89 and the Department’s No. 302, October 4, 10 p.m., to Peiping;90 in view of which I await Department’s instructions before replying to the letter of the Japanese Consul General mentioned in paragraph 1 of this message.

Repeated to Hankow and Peiping.

Gauss
  1. Not printed.↩
  2. Not printed.↩
  3. See telegram No. 251, October 5, 1937, 8 p.m., to the Ambassador in Japan, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, Vol. i, p. 510.↩