751G.94/124: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
357. The Consul at Hanoi has informed the Department that the Japanese commanding general has presented demands to the Governor General of Indochina for occupation of Hanoi, Haiphong, and five airports by the armed forces of Japan. According to Mr. Reed, General Nishihara has stipulated that unless Japan’s demands are accepted, invasion of French Indochina by Japanese armed forces will start on September 22 at 10 p.m.7b
Please try to see the Minister for Foreign Affairs at earliest moment possible; inform him of the report which the Department has received; and express to him, as under instructions from this Government, the great surprise of the Government of the United States that in the light of all the circumstances, among which is Japan’s voluntary pledge previously expressed to maintain and to preserve the status quo in the Pacific area, the Japanese authorities in French Indochina should have taken action giving rise to this report. You will also say that the Government of the United States assumes that the report which it has received, if it is based on fact, reflects action taken locally exceeding the instructions of the Government of Japan, as was reputedly the case when a previous ultimatum was presented by Japanese military authorities.
You will further say to the Foreign Minister that the American Government would appreciate receiving assurances from the Government of Japan that the reports which have come to the Department are not warranted and that they represent the intentions neither of the Japanese military authorities at Hanoi nor of the Imperial Government.
Inform the British and the French Ambassadors in Japan of your démarche, and repeat to Hanoi.
- See memorandum by the Under Secretary of State, September 20, 1940, vol. i, p. 877.↩