793.94/9667: Telegram
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 25—5 a.m.]
518. My 498, August 23, 5 p.m. Following telegram has been sent to Shanghai:
August 24, 5 p.m. My August 23, 3 p.m. For the information of the Commander-in-Chief.
The following communication has been received from the Minister for Foreign Affairs:
“I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday’s date, requesting an assurance on the Chinese side that the section of the Whangpoo River between the barrier off Nantao [Page 281] and the line running from the Soochow Creek to Pootung Point will not be entered by Chinese vessels for any warlike purpose.
In reply I have to state that, while the Chinese Government must necessarily reserve its right which is inherent in China’s territorial sovereignty, for the free use and passage of all kinds of Chinese vessels, for the whole length of the Whangpoo, the Chinese military authorities agree not to commit hostilities in the section of the river in question, provided that Japanese warships do not cross the Soochow Creek and Pootung Point line and refrain from taking hostile action in that section.”