793.003/897: Telegram
The Consul General at Shanghai (Lockhart) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 25—8 a.m.]
902. The Japanese Embassy spokesman stated to the press here yesterday:
“Some third party nationals now residing in Japanese occupied territory in China appear to labor under the misconception that they are above Japanese law because they enjoy extraterritorial status insofar as China is concerned. That is wrong. In the same way that aliens do not enjoy special privileges in Japan, they are not entitled to special treatment in Japanese occupied territory in China. It may be possible that they seem to think differently because of their long residence in China, where they enjoy extra[territoria]lity.”
Repeated to Hankow, Tokyo, Nanking, Peiping.