893.102S/1835: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China (Peck) to the Secretary of State
[Received 1:40 p.m.]
386. My 341, May 23, 10 a.m. Following Foreign Office translation of aide-mémoire handed to me as of date June 12.
“Reference is made to the aide-mémoire handed on May 22, 1939 by Mr. Willys R. Peck, then American Chargé d’Affaires, to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in relation to various aspects of the situation prevailing in the International Settlement at Shanghai.
The aide-mémoire referred to the obligation of the Settlement authorities to avoid involvement in disputes having their origin elsewhere, to the necessity of employing all means at the Chinese Government’s disposal to discourage all activities in the International Settlement on the part of individual Chinese and Chinese organizations tending to disturb the peace and order and to prejudice the international character of the Settlement, and finally to the measures adopted by the Settlement authorities in regard to the hoisting of the national flag by Chinese residents.
The Chinese Government has given careful consideration to the observations made by the Government of the United States on the subject and fully understands the delicate position in which the authorities [Page 64] of the International Settlement in Shanghai find themselves. It is self evident, however, that, to whatever extent the Chinese Government may be willing to contribute its efforts toward the amelioration of the state of affairs now prevailing in the Settlement, on no account should the legal relations between the Chinese Government and the Settlement be allowed to be altered without the former’s consent. For instance the geographical extent of the Settlement, the composition of the governing body, the nature and scope of its authority, its duty to accord adequate protection to all residents, the rights of Chinese citizens residing in the Settlement, and the judicial and other functions of Chinese Government in the Settlement—these and other attributes of the Settlement rest on a legal basis which cannot and should not be affected by the encroachment or interfering on the part of any one party. The Chinese Government must in regard to the Settlement insist on the maintenance of the status quo ante Japanese invasion and will not acquiesce in any unlawful alteration thereof.
With reference to the carrying on of certain activities in the Settlement, which the Government of the United States believes are prejudicial to the position of the Settlement and should be discouraged, the fact should not be lost sight of that the activities complained of have been engaged in by private individuals and organizations who have been prompted by nothing more than their sense of patriotism. Furthermore these activities are far overshadowed in their gravity by those of the Japanese and their puppets in Shanghai, which have been directed against not only the interests of Chinese and foreign nationals but also the very existence of the Chinese nation. The perpetrators of these acts which are of real terrorist nature are bent on the overthrow of all established authority in Shanghai and in Tsingtao and its substitution by a new order which no one can tolerate or recognize. It is these elements and their nefarious attempts that should be brought under effective control, so that the sources of irritation and provocation to the Chinese residents in the Settlement may be reduced and the maintenance of peace and order facilitated.
As to the specific question of the freedom of the Chinese residents in the Settlement to hoist this national flag, the Chinese Government is constrained to reiterate its original attitude and to state that it is unable to agree to any restriction of that freedom by the Settlement authorities.
The Chinese Government wishes to express its deep gratitude for the friendly and sympathetic spirit in which the Government of the United States has through the American Chargé d’Affaires presented [its?] views opening [upon?] entire subject of American protection which it has, along with other governments, striven to accord to Chinese lives and interests found within the confines of the Settlement. The Chinese Government is also appreciative of the difficulties now confronting the authorities of the Settlement as well as the efforts made by the Government of the United States in the interests of all concerned. Always desirous of seeing the maintenance in the Settlement of peace and order, the existence of the normal state of affairs, the Chinese Government necessarily discountenances any action which [Page 65] runs against such a desire and will endeavor, as far as is within its power, to continue the pursuit of this policy.”
Repeated to Shanghai. Text by air mail to Tokyo. By air mail to Peiping.