393.11/2105: Telegram
The Consul General at Tientsin (Caldwell) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 19—7 a.m.]
158. I have received reports from confidential source which should be reliable that Pei-tai-ho is in danger of attacks for robbery or kidnapping from bandits in that vicinity; that Pei-tai-ho police force is inadequate to oppose such attacks; that no Japanese troops are stationed there and that requests of local officials for despatch of Japanese troops have been refused.
It is impossible to verify these reports and I am not entirely convinced that there is serious danger to American lives and property in Pei-tai-ho, but conditions in that area are such that this warning should not be entirely ignored. It is known that in the past few weeks the members of the Eighth Route Army and bandits (which are often indistinguishable from each other) have rapidly increased in East Hopei, and that the situation at and near Tongshan is precarious. It is reported that 5,000 such soldiers in small but definitely organized units crossed the railway toward the east not far from Tongshan very recently.
[Page 446]Under the circumstances I suggest that consideration be given to the possibility of having a naval vessel off Pei-tai-ho, at least part of the time until the middle of September.60a
Repeated to Peiping and Chungking.
- A destroyer division and marine detachments at Chinwangtao were authorized to keep in touch with Peitaiho and to render assistance if necessary until September 2 when the destroyers were due to leave.↩