793.94/8975: Telegram
The Counselor of Embassy in China (Lockhart) to the Secretary of State
Peiping, July 26, 1937—6
p.m.
[Received July 26—8:45 a.m.]
[Received July 26—8:45 a.m.]
297. Embassy’s 293, July 26, noon.
- 1.
- Local Japanese officials claim that the clash at Langfang has been virtually settled by the defeat of the Chinese troops involved and their retreat to Huangtsun, Peiping [which] is about 12 miles south of Fengtai on the Peiping–Tientsin railway. Those officials expressed the opinion that the incident will not become important. However, train and telephone services between Peiping and Tientsin are still suspended.
- 2.
- It is too soon to gauge the significance of the clash at Langfang in respect to future military and political developments, but there is a growing feeling here that serious repercussions may issue from the incident. The proximity of Japanese and Chinese forces in this area and the anti-Japanese feeling existing among the Chinese forces render future outbreaks not unlikely, which would make a peaceful solution difficult even along the lines already approved by the highest authorities on both sides.
Repeated to Nanking, Tokyo.
Lockhart