711.93/524
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State
The Chinese Foreign Minister, Dr. T. V. Soong, called at his request. I welcomed him back from his protracted visit to Chungking and proceeded to tell him what a marvelous impression his sister, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, had made on everyone in this country.
I then referred to the conclusion of the negotiations on extraterritoriality12 and thanked him for his fine aid in the matter at the other end of the line. He replied with many expressions of gratitude at our course. He said that the abandonment of extraterritoriality practices could not have been accomplished without the leadership of this Government and that our British friends were a little less enthusiastic about such matters than the United States.
I referred to the deep and constant interest the State Department has taken in its efforts to cooperate with the Chinese Government in securing military and other supplies from this country. He said he was aware of this and was most appreciative. I then suggested that he give the State Department copies of his lists of requested supplies which he presents to the appropriate departments of the Government in order that we might be of more effective assistance.
I inquired about economic, financial and military conditions in China. He said he would like to go into these matters at some length when I return from my vacation.
The Foreign Minister added that Japan seemed to be poising herself for an important movement of some kind and that, taking all the circumstances and facts into consideration, he was inclined to believe that it was intended more against China than against any other power.
I said to Dr. Soong that a person now and then would inquire of me as to Russia’s intentions after the war, both in the East and in the West. The Foreign Minister replied that Russia was saying nothing in this connection so far as he was aware (this evidently means to other Chinese Government officials). I added that now and then someone would inquire about Russia’s possible intentions toward Korea. He promptly replied that he did not know about this, that he only knew China’s intentions which were opposed to [Page 12] taking over new territory, whether it be Korea, Burma, Indochina or other outlying areas. He said that his Government saw eye to eye with this Government on the question of annexing territory and is dead against it.
I briefly reviewed for Dr. Soong’s information the high points in our relations with Japan during the one or two years leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, including the constant requests of the British, the Australians, the Dutch and our own Army and Navy heads that we at the State Department and the White House not allow ourselves to be drawn into a war with Japan until it was absolutely necessary for the reason that all of them said they were not ready. I also reminded the Foreign Minister of many of the factual phases of that long period of conversations with Japan which I had conducted.13 He seemed very appreciative and expressed himself as most pleased to get the benefit of certain of these vital points which were not conspicuous at the time. He said that the State Department stood one hundred percent high with everyone wherever he had been.
I reminded Dr. Soong that we set forth almost all of the principles at Montevideo14 on which the whole good neighbor policy had been developed, especially to such a striking degree in this hemisphere, and that the recent extraterritoriality treaty with China had been planned by this Government for the past two or three years, as a part and parcel of the good neighbor policy launched at Montevideo, but that on account of conditions prevailing as a result of the Chinese and Japanese conflict it had been difficult to bring our Marines out of Shanghai, Peking and Nanking. The Foreign Minister seemed greatly interested in this information.
- See bracketed note, p. 690.↩
- See Foreign Relations, 1941, vol. iv, pp. 1 ff.↩
- Seventh International Conference of American States held at Montevideo, December 3–26, 1933. See ibid., 1933, vol. iv, pp. 1 ff.↩