751G.94/165
Memorandum by the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
This afternoon I called on the Foreign Minister and after calling his attention to the reports that France has received secret demands from Japan in regard to Indochina, I addressed to the Minister the substance of paragraph 2 of the Department’s telegram No. 293, August 6, 1 p.m., and conveyed to him, as instructed, the concern with which the Government of the United States regarded the developments reported.
In replying to my opening remarks, the Minister said that (1) he wished to withhold his comment; (2) that admitting certain demands had been made on Indochina, still he could not reveal their precise character; and (3) that in regard to a recent article in the New York Times, a cabled report of which he had with him, he considered its various points as either grossly exaggerated or completely unfounded. The Minister declined to comment on the two demands listed in the Department’s telegram.
[Page 291]In departing, I presented the Minister with copies of the Secretary’s statements of April 17 and May 11, and stressed the attitude of the American Government towards maintaining the status quo with regard to the entire Pacific area, including both French Indochina and the Netherlands East Indies.
I was told by the Minister and authorized to inform the Department in strict confidence that the Japanese demands had been already accepted in principle by the French Government.
An official of the Information Bureau, sent by the Foreign Minister, arrived later in the afternoon with the message that it was the wish of the Japanese Government not to disclose the object of my call and therefore the press would be told that I had called about the Gendarmerie case in Shanghai.6b I sent back the reply that whereas I was convinced that the Department would not betray any confidence, it might deem it necessary to release to the American public that I had called in connection with alleged Japanese demands concerning Indochina, and that hence it would be understood that in no way could I have committed my Government on this point. Further, to say that I had called in connection with the Shanghai Gendarmerie case would not be true, and therefore I suggested that it be reported that I called for “various routine matters”. The Foreign Office informed us, after further telephone conversation that the press release would say that I had called to inquire about press reports published abroad regarding late developments in relations between French Indochina and Japan, and that the reports were declared to be inaccurate by the Foreign Minister.