Office of the Historian

793.94/4345: Telegram

The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State

Shanghai, February 21, 1932—noon.
[Received February 21—6:04 a.m.]
1.
Japanese appear to have made little or no advance since beginning of drive at 7:30 morning of 20th. They are using all forces at their disposal and are apparently burning everything in their path including farmhouses.
2.
In pronouncements here Japanese are emphasizing the point that they are fighting for the prestige of the West in Asia. In conversation which I had with Matsuoka yesterday he said that Japan would get out of Shanghai “mess” if she could with honor but knew no way out, that she could not afford defeat and in any case could not leave European nations in the lurch by retiring in the face of Chinese force.
Johnson