Excerpts of the President's News Conference

Our policy in respect to our citizens and their property in China is that which I have often outlined to the conference, of doing what we can to protect them. There are great difficulties because of the vast extent of territory and the fact that we have people who are located in many different parts of China. All we can do about it is to do the best we can. The American situation and that of Great Britain is quite different. They have concessions in China and we have not, so that their policy perhaps might be different from ours. We have at the present time some forces around Shanghai. It is there that there is located the principal number of our citizens in China. I think there are some 4,000 in Shanghai and those we shall attempt to do the best we can to protect from disorder and mob violence. A memorandum was handed to the Secretary of State not very long ago from the British and the Secretary has been considering making some statement that would more clearly define the policy of the United States relative to our treaty rights and so on in China. I think he may have such a memorandum ready within a day or two, so that you will have an authoritative and carefully prepared statement of the American position and policies. That hasn't anything to do with protection of our citizens and their property that is located there, but it has to do with the other matters which are not in the memorandum that the British made.