893.00/8250: Telegram
The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 15—6:12 a.m.]
143. Department’s 56, February 11, 4 p.m. Following from American consul general at Hankow:
“February 14, 6 p.m. Substance of your February 12, 3 p.m. communicated orally to Eugene Ch’en this afternoon. He said that he quite understood proposal was limited to International Settlement at Shanghai, but in effect it meant the neutralization of the whole port. He said that in several public announcements he had stated that the Nationalists did not contemplate any military operations against the International Settlement. He reiterated the statement, but said that the Chinese territory immediately surrounding Settlement would probably be involved in warfare between Northern and the Southern forces. It was from this area that he feared that Sun’s64 troops might be withdrawn for use against the Nationalist troops advancing in the direction of Shanghai.
Ch’en stated that he has now decided to make no public statement or reply to the memorandum, as he did not wish to irritate what he described as an unpleasant situation.”
- Sun Ch’uan-fang.↩