File No. 661.939/5a
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Morris)1
Please say to the Minister for Foreign Affairs that information received by the American Government is to the effect that the embargo enforced by China on shipments to eastern Siberia is causing hardship to the people of that region whose resentment is directed against the Allies, The American Minister at Peking reports that [Page 177] the Russian Minister there believes that the export of foodstuffs to regions east of Irkutsk is desirable and would not be dangerous.
The American Government is informed that the embargo serves no useful purpose since supplies from eastern Siberia can not reach Germany. The American Government therefore believes it advisable that the embargo be removed and is disposed to think that China would be glad to remove it if so advised by the Allied Governments.
The American Government will be glad to know that the Government to which you are accredited is disposed to instruct its representative at Peking in this sense.
- The same, on the same date, to the Ambassadors in Great Britain (No. 7529) and France (No. 3796).↩