793.94/1902: Telegram

The Consul General at Nanking (Peck) to the Secretary of State

73. 1. Dr. Lee, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, called this morning to tell me that reports from Chinese official sources at Geneva were to the effect that the wording of the communications of the American Government to the Japanese and Chinese Governments came as a surprise to some members of the League Council and that whereas there had been marked enthusiasm for an attempted adjustment of the Sino-Japanese controversy through League agency this enthusiasm noticeably waned when the attitude taken by the United States became known.

2. Lee also said that Chinese leaders have been taken aback by lack of any specific reference in the partial note to the Washington Conference treaties or the Kellogg Pact.

3. Lee referred to Japanese official assurances published in the press that Japanese troops were being withdrawn and military offensives had ended. He said that official Chinese reports from Manchuria [Page 81] were that the scope of Japanese military occupation was being extended and that activities such as the bombing of trains were being continued if not intensified.

Peck