393.1163/526
The Consul General at Nanking (Peck) to the Minister in China (Johnson)70
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the Legation’s instruction of July 31, 1931, enclosing an Aide-Mémoire of the same date, regarding the occupation of American-owned property by Chinese troops. I at once, i. e. on August 8, 1931, asked the Director [Page 974] of the Bureau of Protocol to arrange for an interview for me with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, for the purpose of delivering this document to him. At that time the Minister and the two Vice Ministers were absent from the Capital.
Dr. Wang, Minister for Foreign Affairs, received me at 12 noon, on August 12, 1931. I handed to him the envelope containing the Aide-Mémoire, in English and Chinese translation, and explained that I had been instructed by the American Minister to invite the serious attention of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the gravity of the situation depicted by the communication. Dr. Wang asked me where the incidents complained of occurred, and I replied that they had occurred in many different parts of the country.
Dr. Wang assured me that he would give his attention to the Aide-Mémoire.
I stated formally to the Minister for Foreign Affairs that I had been instructed by the American Minister to inform him that in view of all the circumstances, the American Government was obliged to reserve, on behalf of the owners of the property affected, the right to claim damages from the Chinese Government on account of the losses inflicted by the Government troops.
Respectfully yours,
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Minister without covering despatch; received September 28.↩