793.94/9321: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received 8:10 a.m.]
413. 1. Following statement was released to the press by the Foreign Office just before midnight:
“A Wachiaopu88 spokesman made the following statement today: ‘Since the outbreak of the Lukouchiao incident, the Japanese have repeatedly professed that they had no intention to aggravate the situation, but their actions have been diametrically opposed to their verbal professions.
In North China the Japanese at first professed their desire for a local settlement, but they have since brought in huge reinforcements with which they attacked Peiping and Tientsin and indulged in wanton acts of indiscriminate killings and incendiarism. Now they are extending their operations by launching a fierce attack on Nankow and threatening various places in Southern Hopei. Their actions clearly indicate that there is no limit to their territorial ambitions.
At Shanghai, where an incident occurred on August 9 involving the loss of lives of one Chinese sentry and two Japanese naval men, the Japanese have verbally agreed to our proposal that an equitable settlement be sought through diplomatic channels but, in spite of this undertaking, the Japanese Government has despatched to Shanghai large numbers of warships, airplanes, marines and other armed forces. At the same time the Japanese have presented various demands calculated to remove or undermine Chinese defense. Japanese airplanes have made illegal flights over Shanghai, Hankow, Ningpo, and other places evidently with a view to commencing military operations.
All these actions infringe upon Chinese territorial sovereignty and violate the various international treaties. Under these circumstances China’s endurance has been taxed to the limit. There is no other way for her but to act in self defense by resisting aggression and violence. The responsibility for the future development of the situation must rest entirely with Japan’.”
Sent to the Department, Peiping.
- Foreign Office.↩