793.94/8648: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China (Peck) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 7—7 a.m.]
231. My 230, June 7, 9 a.m. Informant stated that the Director of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Foreign Office stated positively that war between China and Japan would take place within 5 years. Informant said that statements made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs indicate beyond reasonable doubt that either an oral or a written understanding has been reached between China and Russia providing for joint military resistance to Japan in certain circumstances.
Among deletions made by the Foreign Office in the draft of the proposed telegraphic report of the interview was a statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs concerning relations between the Soviet Union, Japan and China that the desire of China was to maintain peaceful balance in the Orient; that there was naturally a joint interest between the Soviet Union and China to resist continental aggression by Japan since China could not afford to see an increase in Japan’s strength in Northern China following a defeat of Russia nor an increase in Russian strength following a defeat of Japan.