793.94/4589
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
During the call of the British Ambassador he brought up the situation at Shanghai. He said he could not understand how the Japanese could ask for a truce and stage a major attack; that the main thing was to keep our own two Governments working exactly together. I told him I agreed and that I had been having very satisfactory communications with Sir John Simon at Geneva over this proposed truce; that I also had been having very great help from the French Government through Claudel; that that was very encouraging in view of the rumors that there had been in the first place of sympathy or understanding between France and Japan. The Ambassador said that he was very interested to hear that; that he had not been able himself to believe that there was any understanding between them; that they did not have enough in common to produce such a situation.