393.115 China National Aviation Company/45: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 31—4:42 p.m.]
568. Our 559, August 26, 7 p.m. China National Aviation Corporation. There has just been received by messenger from the Foreign Office a note dated today in reply to the note which I handed to the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs on August 26. The note and the report thereto annexed read in translation supplied by the Foreign Office as follows:
“Monsieur l’Ambassadeur, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency’s note of the 26th instant, stating that Your Excellency protests, under instructions and on behalf of the American Government, against the unwarranted attack on August 24th near Macao by Japanese airplanes upon a commercial airplane of the China National Aviation Corporation, resulting in the total destruction of the said Chinese plane, the loss of the lives of a number of its passengers, and the endangering of the life of its American pilot.
The incident was caused by the China National Aviation Corporation plane which within the Japanese field of operation acted in such a manner as to invite suspicions of its being a Chinese military craft, as stated in the following report, and which was consequently pursued and attacked by our naval planes in the belief that it was an enemy plane. While it is to be regretted that this resulted in endangering the life of an American citizen who happened to be the pilot of the plane, as well as in the death and wounding of non-combatant passengers and crew, the Japanese Government hold the view that the action of their naval planes is not unwarranted in the light of the above-mentioned circumstance. It is also their opinion that the company to which the aircraft in question belonged, being a Chinese juridical person, the incident is not one which involves Japan directly with any third power. However, I desire to add that, because of the wide discrepancies between the pilot’s accounts of the incident as given in [Page 461] Your Excellency’s note and the reports in the hands of the Japanese Government, further investigations were instituted, and that the following new report has been received, which substantially confirms what our Vice-Minister Horinouchi on the occasion of Your Excellency’s visit on the 26th stated on the basis of the information that was then at its command.
I avail myself, et cetera. (Signed) Kazushige Ugaki, Minister for Foreign Affairs. His Excellency Joseph Clark Grew, Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States.”
Annex to Note.
“Report: On the morning of the 24th instant, 5 Japanese naval airplanes proceeding in the direction of the Canton–Hankow Railway, unexpectedly sighted over Chiautao Island at 9:30 o’clock A.M. a large type land plane bearing no distinguishable mark some 2,000 metres away to the north which was flying toward the west at an altitude of about 2,000 metres, and attempted to approach the plane for the purpose of identification.
The large plane in question, as soon as it discovered our naval planes approaching it, abruptly turned in the northwesterly direction and took to flight at full speed, hiding itself among the clouds. The approaching movement of the naval planes was made for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the land plane. However, seeing the plane flee from them, our air squadron concluded in the light of their past experiences that it was an enemy plane which came either to attack our warships or to make reconnaissance, and accordingly took an offensive position by placing 2 planes above and 3 planes below the clouds.
Soon after, our planes lying in wait below the clouds, discovering the supposedly enemy plane, pursued and attacked it. The plane continued to flee by taking advantage of the scattered clouds, but hard pressed by our squadron, finally landed in the river on the south side of a delta which lies 16 kilometres to the west of Hungmenchikow. From the time they first sighted the plane until the moment it landed, our planes were situated directly behind it for the most time, so that it was difficult to ascertain its character, and our planes were throughout in the belief that the land plane was an enemy craft. As soon as the latter landed, however, our plane descended in order to inspect the spot. When they reached a point above the land plane where they could better distinguish the type of the plane, a doubt arose as to its exact type. Our planes therefore immediately stopped their attack.
As stated above, there was some time, though very brief, after the landing of the said plane until a doubt came to be entertained as to its nature, and during that brief period there were some among our crafts which continued the attack, but there was absolutely no more shooting thereafter.
Our naval planes then dived to 20 metres above the water and inspected the landed plane, whereupon the plane in question was found to be an all-metal Douglas passenger plane, with no painted mark except a Chinese character signifying ‘mail’ marked on the upper face of its right wing and on the right side of its body. Our planes left without firing.
[Page 462]Our planes saw on the landed plane the pilot and also a few passengers near the entrance of the passenger compartment in the rear, but they thought that as the spot was close to the bank of the river these men would be able to swim to the shore.”
Repeated to Hong Kong for Chungking.