[3][4] The group spent six weeks in Manchuria in spring 1932 (despite having been sent in December 1931) on a fact-finding mission after they had met government leaders in the Republic of China and in Japan.

The bandits were also planning an attack on the express train transporting the German governor Heinrich Schnee and French general Henri Claudel, representative of the Lytton Commission during their voyage back to Europe.

It also covered the question of the economic interests of Japan both in Manchuria and China as a whole, and the nature and effects of the Chinese anti-Japanese boycott.

Finally, the Commission submitted a study of the conditions to which, in its judgment, any satisfactory solution should conform, and made various proposals and suggestions as to how an agreement embodying these principles might be brought about.

[10] In spite of care to preserve impartiality between the conflicting views of China and Japan, the effect of the Report was regarded as a substantial vindication of the Chinese case on most fundamental issues.

Regarding Manchukuo, the Report concluded that the new State could not have been formed without the presence of Japanese troops; that it had no general support locally or from China; and that it was not part of a genuine and spontaneous independent movement.

The Geneva correspondent of The Daily Telegraph says: "The report, which was approved unanimously, proposes that China and Japan shall be given three months in which to accept or reject the recommendations.

The Daily Telegraph French correspondent says: "The report insists on the withdrawal of Japanese troops within the South Manchuria railway zone, and recommends the establishment of an organisation under the sovereignty of China to deal with conditions in Manchuria, taking due account of the rights and interests of Japan, and the formation of a committee of negotiation for the application of these and other recommendations.