793.003/1020: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in China (Gauss)96
1170. Your 1407, November 30, 3 p.m., treaty on extraterritoriality. As indicated in the document handed to the Chinese Embassy by the Department on November 27, mention of the questions of coasting trade and inland navigation by Dr. Soong before his departure for China and the raising of them since in the Chinese document of November 10 and orally by the Chinese Embassy led us to believe that the Chinese Government desired that they be covered in connection with the treaty and we accordingly made endeavor to meet the Chinese wishes in this respect in an appropriate manner. In handing to the Chinese Minister Counselor on November 27 our document in reply to the Chinese document of November 10, we remarked to him that the questions of inland navigation and coasting trade were not related to extraterritoriality and might more appropriately be covered in the later comprehensive treaty which the two Governments contemplate; and that there appeared to be one of three things which might be done in regard to those questions: the handling of them in a supplemental exchange of notes as suggested in our document of November 27, the insertion in the treaty of a full article along the lines of the articles on those subjects in our modern comprehensive treaties with other countries (Department’s 1075, November 13, 11 a.m.,97 paragraph numbered 3 first quoted subparagraph minus reference to naval vessels; and pertinent quoted portion of subparagraph numbered 1 of Department’s 1127, November 21, 3 p.m.98), or just dropping the matters and reserving them for discussion in connection with the later treaty.
We do not have any especial choice in the matter, our principal desire having been to meet Chinese wishes in so far as practicable. However, [Page 385] in the light of the fact that, as previously mentioned, the matters in question do not have actual relation to extraterritoriality and might more appropriately be reserved for the later comprehensive treaty in the same way that the question of “the carrying on of commerce” in connection with Article V of our draft is being reserved for the later treaty at the request of the Chinese Government, we suggest that the solution of the problem for the present would be to omit any reference to coasting trade and inland navigation in the present treaty or supplemental notes.
In the light of Dr. Soong’s remarks to you we now propose to make this suggestion to the Chinese Embassy here, but leaving the matter open for choice by the Chinese, and we request that you also, as a possible means of saving time, inform Dr. Soong of our views, hand him a copy of the article on coasting trade and inland navigation which we previously had in mind, and request that he indicate his preference.