This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government, and should be
returned to the Foreign Office if not required for official use.]
20
380
(377)
From
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
Decypher.
Sir R. Lindsey (Washington)
23rd December, 1931.
D. 5.24 p.m. 23rd December, 1931.
24th December, 1931.
R. 9.50 8.m.
No. 762.
Your telogram No. 864.
I have given aide-memoire in this sense to
Mr. Castle.
He said United States government shared your view that it would be useless to negotiate now or indeed till a Chinese government emerged strong enough to fulfil its obligations. Indeed Koo just before he fell had said to United States Minister that Chinese government did not expect negotiations to be resumed now. Mr. Castle considered however that they should be taken up when possible in order to give China no ground for unilateral denunciation.
He thought it unlikely that extraterritoriality would be denounced in the near future but rather expected there would be sporadic cases throughout China
of action by local officials in defiance of it. United States Minister had a few days ago told Koo
that disregard of treaty rights by China would be regarded as a very grave matter. Mr. Castle said this was the view of United States government. Formula "to take what measures were open to them" was too indefinite for United States government to accept without reserve but they would be in favour of firm
resistance.
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