Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1932, The Far East, Volume III

793.94/4917

Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Castle) of a Conversation With the Japanese Ambassador (Debuchi)

[Washington,] March 22, 1932.

As the Secretary was ill the Ambassador came to see me. He said that, as he had told the Secretary,²² Japan was withdrawing about half the troops in Shanghai. He thought most of them were on their way home already. He said, further, that on March 20th orders were given to have five cruisers, sixteen destroyers and two airplane carriers in Shanghai returned to Japan; Admiral Nomura will be left in command and the Ambassador said that Admiral Nomura’s flagship is the only ship beyond the number Japan had in Shanghai before the trouble occurred.

He spoke of the necessity of patrolling the evacuated zone by competent Chinese police and referred to a talk he had had the other day with the Secretary as to the instruction of further constabulary by foreigners, very much as we had done in Nicaragua. He seemed to think that some such plan as this would be very useful. The Ambassador said he had heard that a certain number of police were to be brought to Shanghai from Peiping, police who used to be, at least, very efficient. The Ambassador said that he thought eventually it would probably be considered wise to establish a neutral zone around the International Settlement, although he admitted that this would probably raise complications with the Chinese on the ground of sovereignty. I told him that this was a question which I could not possibly discuss with him, but that it seemed to me that the Chinese contention had validity. He said that there were a great many Americans and English in the Settlement who would welcome such an arrangement as making the zone safe. I said that the foreigners in the Settlement had, in general, been safe in any case and that recently they would have been safe had it not been for the Japanese military offensive.

The Ambassador spoke of the fact that they were not going immediately to recognize the new régime in Manchuria and talked about various aspects of the situation.

He left with me, herewith attached, a copy of a speech made today in the Diet by Mr. Yoshizawa.²³ The interlinings in the speech were made by the Ambassador, as indicating parts which he thought important.

W. R. Castle, Jr.

22. See memorandum by the Secretary of State dated March 15, 1932, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 214.
23. Not printed.