893.5034/7–3145: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Hurley) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:25 p.m.]
1259. We are today in receipt of the following letter from Dr. Sun Fo, President of the Legislative Yuan:
“In response to your inquiry as to how long the draft corporation laws will be under consideration by the Legislative Yuan before enactment into law, I take this opportunity to inform you that the draft has already passed the committee stage and has been brought up before the Yuan at last Saturday’s session for first reading. At the present rate of progress, the draft will go through its second and third readings within the next 3 weeks, and will be enacted into law by the end of August 1945.”
It will be obvious from the foregoing that if our views are to be considered they will have to be submitted in the very near future. The long delay in taking action in response to our repeated requests [Page 1225] over a period of 3 months that a competent corporation lawyer be assigned to the Embassy staff during the drafting of this law may well mean that we shall have lost the opportunity of incorporating in the law such provisions as we consider necessary for the protection of our interests. Chinese authorities have shown every disposition to discuss the law with us on the ground, but they apparently do not intend to delay action pending the long time involved in sending the draft to Washington for consideration and the relaying of comments back to China. The draft despatched to you under date of July 2030 has probably not yet reached you. Upon receipt please review and cable comments as promptly as possible. We shall do what we can to delay final action here.
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- Despatch No. 561, not printed.↩