893.00/1–1648: Telegram
The Consul General at Canton (Boucher) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 17—8:56 a. m.]
12. From Lewis Clark.83 At previously arranged press conference today which took place while British Consulate General was burning, I departed from questions submitted in advance to say that, of course, the important thing was what was taking place down the street. After recalling my long associations with China and the Chinese and my real feeling of friendship for the Chinese people, I said that I was deeply distressed at what was taking place. Extraterritoriality was a thing of the past: China had become a great nation—one of the Big Five—and had to accept the responsibilities of a great nation. Stressing and reiterating that I was not taking any position in respect of the Kowloon incident, I said that, as a mature nation, China should seek the settlement of such disputes through diplomatic processes and not by burning the Consular premises of a friendly nature [nation]. The action which I was witnessing, I said, would not do harm to Britain but to China. It was not the British who would suffer from the burning of their Consulate but the prestige of China as a great nation. I expressed the hope that I would be correctly quoted as I was prepared to stand by my statements but remarked that I was speaking under the shock of what was going on while I was talking and I felt like weeping to think of the harm these events would do to China. In answer to a specific question, I gave my personal opinion that events of today [Page 48] in Canton would prejudice consideration in the Congress of Aid to China Program.84
Repeated to Nanking as 13. [Lewis Clark.]