740.0011 European War 1939/14168: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 21—1:30 a.m.]
1547. The Chinese Ambassador told me this afternoon that he has received information from Chungking to the effect that the Japanese have for some time past been withdrawing troops from the Yangtze area, some of which have been sent south to Indochina and others [Page 1017] north to Manchukuo. He also said that it is the opinion of his Government that Japan will not attack the Soviet Union unless and until the Germans have occupied Moscow and that even then it was by no means certain that the Japanese would move against the Soviet Union unless there was reasonably clear indication of a collapse of Soviet resistance.
The Ambassador said with respect to deliveries by the Soviets of war material to Chiang Kai Shek that they were continuing according to the terms of the existing agreement and that so far as he was aware no discussions have as yet taken place with the object of entering into a new agreement. He said that the relations between his Government and the Soviet Government are “entirely satisfactory.”