793.94 Conference/312
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Wilson)
The Chinese Ambassador called this afternoon and asked me what were the latest developments in Brussels. I told him that we had heard from Mr. Davis that the next meeting was to take place on Monday and that he anticipated that Delbos and Eden would arrive on Friday, in order to have conversations in anticipation of what attitude they would adopt on Monday.
Doctor Wang said that he had got the impression from the papers that the British and French Governments “desire to go as far as the United States Government in applying pressure on Japan”; he asked me if I could discuss this. I replied that it seemed to me the word “desire” was erroneously used, that some fifty nations, members of the League, had met in Geneva and conferred regarding this situation, that they had conferred under the Covenant, which contained express provisions for methods of pressure, that these provisions had not been adopted. Further, I said that he knew as well as I did that the situation in Europe was such as to give grave and even primary concern to Great Britain and France.
[Page 203]Doctor Wang then stated that he supposed Mr. Davis was awaiting advice from us as to his course of action and desired to have any information possible as to what our action would be in respect to the Neutrality Act. I told him that, as far as I knew, we were contemplating no action in respect to the Neutrality Act, that, of course, if Japan declared war or other violent circumstances arose, it might be necessary to re-consider the position. The Ambassador said that he always assumed that if Japan declared war, we would have to either apply the Neutrality Act or immediately ask Congress to suspend it. I replied that this was a reasonable assumption. He inquired as to what recommendation the Administration would make to Congress in the event that Japan declared war. I replied that he had dealt with us long enough to know how reluctant we were to answer hypothetical questions, that no man could foresee all the factors involved in a future decision and that, hence, it was idle to speculate on what course we would pursue.
Doctor Wang spoke of the grave situation they were in in China and of his hope that the nations at Brussels could do something positive; he hoped that the temper of the American people was such as to permit this. I replied that he knew how deep was the sympathy of the American people for China, but that the translation of such sympathy into positive acts always aroused apprehensions, traces of which he had no doubt seen in the press. Doctor Wang replied that he hoped the leadership could be such that the American people would acquiesce in positive action.