124.93/59: Telegram

The Ambassador in Great Britain (Kellogg) to the Secretary of State

229. Since sending 221, June 18, 5 p.m.,89 the Foreign Office informs me that it has been formally approached by the Chinese Chargé [Page 465] d’Affaires in the matter of raising the Legation at Peking to the rank of an Embassy and that it would be glad to deal with this question harmoniously with the views of the United States. I am now in receipt of an informal note from Waterlow90 enclosing a draft of a communication which the Foreign Office proposes to send to the Chinese Chargé d’Affaires but stating that he prefers not to send it without first communicating its actual terms to me. He asks that it be cabled to Washington with the object of obtaining your views as soon as possible. Waterlow further states that he proposes to instruct the British representatives at Paris, Rome and Tokyo to inform the Governments to which they are accredited of the British Government’s views and to urge them to reply on the lines of the draft which reads as follows:

“Chinese Chargé d’Affaires. Sir: With reference to the communication which you made at this Department on the 18th ultimo, I have the honor to inform you that His Majesty’s Government see no reason why the appointment at Peking of a diplomatic representative of the Soviet Union with the rank of Ambassador which is understood to be impending should be made the occasion of their considering any proposal to change the status of belligerents [sic] either of His Majesty’s representative at Peking or of the representative of the Chinese Government in London.”

Please instruct. Copy to European Information Center.

Kellogg
  1. Not printed.
  2. Sydney P. Waterlow, Counsellor in the British Foreign Office.