740.00119 Pacific War/41
The Second Secretary of Embassy in China (Drumright) to the Secretary of State 25
[Received May 11.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that, according to a Chinese recently arrived from Peiping, the Japanese are reported to harbor the hope of utilizing the services of Dr. J. Leighton Stuart, an American citizen who was President of Yenching University, Peiping, and who is reported to be currently detained in Peiping, to act as mediator between Japan and the United States or at least as the transmitter of peace terms.25a
[Page 54]My informant said that in November 1943 the Japanese had drawn up certain peace proposals and that they had approached Dr. Stuart and suggested that he convey these proposals to the American authorities. According to my informant, Dr. Stuart was to be escorted to unoccupied Chinese territory and released to proceed to Chungking to communicate the Japanese terms to the American authorities there. My informant said that the Japanese plan to so utilize Dr. Stuart was apparently abandoned for some unknown reason. My informant said that she had seen the text of the Japanese terms in Peiping, that they provided for the return of Chinese territory and rights to China, but that they did not refer to Manchuria. She said that they referred to Japanese retention of territory and rights in the south seas. Apart from the foregoing provisions, she said that she could not recall the Japanese terms.
In reply to my inquiry as to how the Japanese proposals came to her attention, my informant said that a Mr. Pan, an English-language secretary to Wang Ke-min, Chairman of the North China Political Council, had shown them to her and had told her of the part Dr. Stuart was slated to play in conveying them to the American authorities. My informant said that Mr. Pan had expressed doubt whether Dr. Stuart was sufficiently influential in the United States to assume such a task as mediation between the United States and Japan and carry it through to a successful conclusion. My informant said that she had formed the opinion that Dr. Stuart has been detained in Peiping by the Japanese for the purpose of communicating Japanese terms at the appropriate moment.
Respectfully yours,