893.01 Manchuria/11: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Forbes) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 26—6:17 a.m.]
81. In the course of my conversation with the Foreign Minister I took occasion to ask him how the plan for an independent Manchurian government was progressing, commenting that it was very important not only for its international aspects but also for its internal effects. He asked me what I meant by “internal effects”, and I said: to the relationship to the integrity of China, paying its share of the Chinese debts and the application of Chinese laws to meet territorial affairs. He then said he was not as yet ready to define the position of his Government toward the matter.
It is common talk here that there is a difference between the attitude of the young military clique and the Premier and the civil cabinet officials, and that the latter are opposed to the independent Manchurian government that the military clique are said to be fostering. Mr. Yoshizawa’s statement would seem to lend color to this idea.