693.002 Manchuria/214: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 26—3:38 a.m.]
196. Following telegram received this morning from Choshun [Changchun?] addressed “American Embassy Tokyo”. I shall of course not acknowledge its receipt.
“I have the honor to inform you that the government of Manchukuo, desirous of giving effect to its past declarations that it will pay without failure its quota of the foreign loan service of the Chinese customs and to facilitate and ensure such payments, has arranged to deposit a reasonable amount of money out of the customs revenues of Manchukuo in reliable foreign banks. The government of Manchukuo in its desire to arrive at a satisfactory agreement with the foreign creditor governments concerned as to the method of definitely fixing and remitting the portion of the foreign loan service to be borne by Manchukuo out of the total amount of foreign loans securable on the Chinese customs revenues as it stood on March 1, 1932, (the day of independence of the state) is ready to open negotiations with the creditor governments or with the Inspector General of Customs on presentation of exact data. In the meantime however and until such an agreement is reached with the foreign creditor governments or with the Inspector General of Customs the government of Manchukuo proposes to fix Manchukuo’s quota in accordance with the ratio existing between the Manchukuo customs revenues and the [Page 185] totals on the combined Manchukuo and Chinese customs revenues. In view however of the certainty that the said ratio may undergo changes in the future due to increase of revenues consequent upon the adjustment of tariffs, reorganization of the customs service and system and the development of natural resources and trade the government of Manchukuo declares that under no circumstances will it recognize or agree to any increase in the ratio above that existing in 1931 deeming it unreasonable that Manchukuo should be asked to pay a higher ratio resulting from any increase in its customs revenues proceeding from its own efforts. As evidence of its sincerity in the above matter the government of Manchukuo take this opportunity to further inform you that it has completed arrangements for remitting to the Inspector General of Customs at Shanghai through the Dairen branch of the Yokohama Specie Bank the sum of silver yen 1,140,101.95 out of the customs revenues detained by it at the time of taking over the customs and that it reserves the right to adjust the said amount with the Manchukuo quota when the latter is definitely decided upon. Hsieh Chieh-shih, Foreign Minister, Manchukuo.”
Telegrams presumed to be identical have been received by my British, French and Italian colleagues here. The French Ambassador is making acknowledgment through the French Consul General in Mukden. The British Embassy is making no acknowledgment.
Repeated to Peiping.