393.11/2115: Telegram
The First Secretary of Embassy in China (Salisbury) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 12—1:20 p.m.]
618. Tsingtao’s despatch No. 374 of October 7, reports that the police department of the Tsingtao municipality has requested the Consulate [Page 492] for certain data regarding American residents of the city. A sample form in English enclosed with the despatch calls for name, sex, married status, age, nationality, date and place of birth, profession, passport particulars, address, object in coming to Tsingtao, certification of correctness of data supplied, and signature. Consulate states that it understands that police department has already distributed forms direct to all Caucasian foreigners at Tsingtao including Americans, but that the police authorities are not satisfied with the comparatively few returns which have been made.
The Embassy is of the opinion that the form calls for no data of a real confidential nature and that it might prove helpful to Americans in Tsingtao to have the police authorities know the addresses of the American nationals residing there.
Having in mind the Department’s instruction contained in the Legation’s circular instruction No. 375 of October 3, 1929,7 it is recommended that the Embassy be authorized to instruct the Consul at Tsingtao to transmit in his discretion and in such manner as he deems practicable, the form to American residents there, with a statement reading as follows:
“American Consulate, Tsingtao, date. There appears to be no objection to American nationals supplying the local police authorities with such information on the enclosed form as American nationals may wish to divulge.”
It is believed that the procedure suggested above will not constitute such action to be avoided as mentioned in the first paragraph of the Department’s telegraphic instruction No. 400 of December 15, 7 p.m. 1937, to Peiping.8
Repeated to Chungking.
- Not printed.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1937, vol. iii, p. 811.↩