793.94/9329: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in China (Johnson)
147. Your 410, August 12, 6 p.m. Your analysis and opinion are helpful and are in general accord with the concept of the Department. In the drafting of its telegrams to you Nos. 14189 and 145, August 12, the Department had in mind considerations similar to those which you advance in your telegram under reference.
To the Department it appears that the presence of Chinese troops in the Shanghai area affords the Japanese an excuse for military operations in that region, whereas, were the Chinese troops not there, the Japanese would be deprived of that excuse and would have little or no ground on which to engage in military operations there.
Department feels that, unless you and the Consul General at Shanghai perceive definite and strong reasons why it would be inadvisable, action along the lines of the Department’s instructions in the telegrams under reference should be proceeded with, if possible, under existing circumstances.
- Telegram No. 141 not printed.↩