893.801/8–1349
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Chinese Affairs (Sprouse)
Mr. Meade telephoned this morning to state that the Foreign Office had instructed the British Embassy Office at Canton to approach the Chinese Foreign Office with respect to the safe passage of ships proceeding to Shanghai. He explained that the British approach authorized was the same as that previously set forth in a telegram from the British Foreign Office, a summary of which had been handed to me on August 5 (copy attached64), except for the deletion of the penultimate sentence. This sentence related to the transportation by the ships of relief supplies “notably rice and fuel” and the approach as authorized merely covered the transportation of “relief supplies” or “cargo” without any description of the cargo or any indication that the “relief supplies” would be intended solely for the foreign community.
(The foregoing serves to strengthen my earlier opinion that the British may be trying to utilize the evacuation program for the purpose of reestablishing commercial traffic into Shanghai.)