740.00111A Arms Control–Transshipments/4: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Bullitt)
913. Your no. 1875, September 9, 4 p.m. The assurance which you have received from the Foreign Office is of no practical value whatever in relation to the continuance of shipments of arms required by the Chinese Government. The definition of arms, ammunition, and implements of war in the Geneva Convention of 1925 is even more comprehensive than the definition contained in the President’s embargo proclamation.
As the Geneva Convention has never been ratified by a sufficient number of States to bring it into effect, and as it would have no application to the situation under discussion even if it were in effect, it is not understood why the Foreign Office should make reference to that treaty.
[Page 759]No reply has as yet been received from the Embassy in London in regard to shipments via Burma.