893.6363/180
The American Ambassador in China ( Johnson ) to the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs ( Wang Chung-hui )22
Dear Dr. Wang: At the request of the Standard-Vacuum Oil Company in Hankow, I would like to bring the following matter to the attention of the competent officials of the Chinese Government.
[Page 580]It is the Company’s understanding that the National Control Commission of Liquid Fuels, recently organized at Hankow, was created because it seemed desirable, under the special circumstances arising from present conditions in China, to find means to assure a sufficient supply of oil products at interior points to satisfy legitimate requirements and to provide for the distribution of such products to legitimate consumers, at reasonable prices. In furtherance of its program, the Commission has requested the Company to observe certain restrictions as regards the sale and transportation of the products in question.
The Company, having in mind the special circumstances mentioned above, is prepared to comply with this request as far as may be possible, and has requested that the Chinese Government be so informed.
The Company wishes to place on record, however, the fact that such compliance is to be without prejudice, and that it is undertaken with the expectation that upon the termination of present abnormal conditions these temporary restrictions upon a free market will be withdrawn.
Yours truly,
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Embassy in China without covering despatch; received about August 8.↩