793.94–/15390: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 23—6 a.m.]
537. Reference my 536, September 21, 1 p.m.53 General Chu Shih Ming, Director of the Department of Intelligence and Publicity of the Foreign Office, informed Weil54 yesterday afternoon that the Soviet Government had made no approach of any sort to the Chinese Government regarding a peaceful settlement of the Sino-Japanese conflict and that the Chinese Government had not asked the Soviet Government for a definition of its attitude following the Soviet invasion of Poland and the Nomonhan armistice. He said he had no reason to believe Soviet aid to China would not continue but expressed frank concern over the effect of the involvement of Britain, France and Russia in the European war on China’s sources of war materials and financial assistance. He indicated that without outside help China could not hope to win the war and seemed to intimate that more than ever before China now looked to the United States for assistance.
A member of the staff of the Military Intelligence Division informed Weil yesterday afternoon that following receipt of news of the Nomonhan armistice, the Chinese Military Attaché at Moscow in response to a telegraphic inquiry from Chungking reported that he could discover no indication that Soviet aid to China would be cut off.
Rumors here to the effect that Russia is trying to settle the Sino-Japanese conflict through negotiation in order to have a free hand in Europe have increased in intensity as a result of publication of a Reuter’s despatch on this subject carrying a Shanghai date line and a Transocean despatch under a Moscow date line—both released here within the last 2 days in the daily bulletins of these news services which are not subject to local censorship. The Foreign Office has reprimanded local representatives of both services for publishing these stories.
Repeated to Peiping, Shanghai, Hong Kong. Peiping please air mail to Tokyo.