793.94 Commission/755: Telegram
The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State
Geneva, January 21,
1933—noon.
[Received January 21—9:45 a.m.]
[Received January 21—9:45 a.m.]
12. Chinese delegation circulated last evening a “statement” of which the following are the principal points:
- (1)
- Expresses disappointment that the Chinese memorandum of [Page 118] December 2641 (Consulate’s despatch No. 467, political, January 12, 193342) had not been published and that the Committee of Nineteen had not officially replied thereto. The delegation therefore makes the memorandum public.
- (2)
- Refers to persistent reports in the press concerning modification of statement of reasons and draft reply of December 2.
- (3)
- Insists that nonrecognition and “noncontinuance” of Manchukuo be explicitly stated in the resolution of the Committee of Nineteen as a condition precedent to any conciliation.
- (4)
- Regards that “no settlement of the present conflict between China and Japan could be permanent or generally acceptable without the full collaboration of America and Soviet Russia”.
- (5)
- “The fact that the United States was represented on the Commission of Inquiry imposes a moral obligation upon the League to invite the collaboration of the United States in its efforts to effect a final settlement of the question” and “the absence of representation on the part of Soviet Russia on the Commission makes it all the more opportune now to secure its participation in view of its territorial position in the Far East and its important interests in Manchuria”.
- (6)
- The proposed subcommittee to undertake conciliation should preserve the proportion between the larger and smaller powers so as to reflect fully the spirit of the special assembly which is the source of its authority.
- (7)
- The competence of such a subcommittee (Consulate’s despatch No. 467, political, page 6) should not be merely to exercise its good offices as no direct conversations between the two parties can lead to any satisfactory conclusion. Only through collective negotiation and “collective responsibility” can there be any hope of achieving the successful solution. If the procedure be one of direct negotiation with the subcommittee only exercising good offices the Chinese delegation cannot accept.
Gilbert