Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1939, The Far East, Volume III

693.001/502: Telegram

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

Shanghai, February 1, 1939—5 p.m.
[Received 6:55 p.m.]

Reference my January 31, 6 p.m. to Hankow⁷⁸ and Tokyo’s No. 52, January 31, noon, concerning return of Americans to Hankow.

In a conversation this morning the local Japanese Consul General confirmed that the transport was the Shinyo Maru and that it carried to Hankow a party of foreigners. He stated that any information to the contrary obtained in Tokyo must have been due to a misunderstanding.

The essentials are that American business interests are unable to send their representatives to Hankow (and other Yangtze ports) because of Japanese restriction and that American interests are suffering therefrom.

Sent to Tokyo. Repeated Department, Peiping, and Hankow.

Gauss

78. Not printed.