893.48/8–149
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Sprouse) to the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth)
During a call at my office today Mr. Meade, Counselor of the British Embassy, again asked if I could give him a reply regarding the British proposal49 for the sending of relief ships to Shanghai. He handed me the attached document,50 a summary of a telegram from the Foreign Office dated July 29.
I outlined to Mr. Meade the general steps that we had taken with respect to the question of the evacuation of American and other foreign nationals from Shanghai, pointing out that these matters were being discussed in Shanghai among the concerned foreign organizations. I pointed out that our chief concern in this respect is the problem of [Page 1124] evacuating those American citizens who might want to leave and that in a sense it seems paradoxical to provide foodstuffs at this time which might lead to the impression that as long as they remained in Shanghai efforts would be made to continue such arrangements. I suggested that it would be desirable for discussions regarding any shipments of relief supplies to take place among the concerned foreign organizations at Shanghai, who would be responsible for arranging for the shipment and entry of and payment for such supplies. I said that in the event American organizations wished to and were able to arrange for shipment of such supplies, we would be willing to associate ourselves with the British Government in approaching the Chinese Government in connection with the passage of evacuation ships carrying such supplies. I pointed out, however, that it was highly likely that the Chinese Government, while willing to agree to the safe passage of evacuation ships, might not be willing to allow the entry into Shanghai of such ships if they carried foodstuffs for the foreign community.