793.94/4290: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland (Wilson), at Geneva
17. Your 29, February 19, noon. Johnson has no instructions not to cooperate. He was given instructions on February 10 to concentrate on the problem of protecting the International Settlement; and on February 12 that this Government would approve in principle any effort that any agency might make toward bringing hostilities to an end. It is the Department’s understanding that Johnson is cooperating.
So inform French inquirers and any others.
Department concurs in the view that effort for the moment should be concentrated on obtaining an armistice and in the view that the Japanese demand of the 20-kilometer neutral zone is exorbitant. In our view, the purpose of a neutral zone should be to separate the Chinese and Japanese combatant forces, in connection with the objective of terminating hostilities and ensuring against renewal.