792.94/13
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 18.]
Sir: There have been numerous indications during the past year that Japan and Siam are gradually arriving at some kind of rapprochement, not only cultural and economic but also political in character.*
M. Phra Mitrakarm Raksha, the present Siamese Minister to Japan, has been consistent in his efforts to cultivate closer and more cordial relations between the two countries ever since his arrival here in June, 1934. It was even reported by the Tokyo Asahi of January 5 that one of his Government’s motives was its desire to reform Siamese politics and “to rid the country of Western influence” by means of close cooperation with Japan.† Whether or not there is any truth in the allegation of the Tokyo Asahi, it is certainly true that Siamese-Japanese relations are at present on a noticeably more cordial and sympathetic plane than they have been for some years past. In this connection a Secretary of the French Embassy yesterday informed a member of my staff confidentially that in reporting to his Government on the increasingly close relations between Japan and Siam the French Ambassador had described the relations which existed between the two countries only a short time ago as “dead” (“… qu’il y a peu de temps encore … les relations qu’entretenait les deux pays étaient mortes pour ainsi dire et qu’elles ne révélaient du moins aucune envie de rapprochement ni même de cordialité réciproque”). Monsieur Pila represented his country in Siam from 1920 to 1925 and during his incumbency here he has kept in close touch with the affairs of that country through the French Legation at Bangkok and in other ways.
According to recent newspaper reports, some of which are corroborated by my French colleague and most of which are believed to be reliable, the following developments have taken place: in accordance with an arrangement concluded between the two Governments, in February of this year a group of twenty Siamese naval officers and cadets came to Japan to study navigation and seamanship and were [Page 156] assigned to various Japanese merchant vessels on board which they will serve until the end of June, 1935; the number of Siamese students in Japan is increasing at the instance of the Siamese Government; steps are being taken toward the introduction in Siam of Japanese medical methods; the Japanese Navy is planning to carry out a good will airplane flight to Bangkok; the Japanese Government is contemplating the inauguration of an air route between Tokyo and Bangkok; in a desire to renovate administrative methods in the new constitutional Siam, the Siamese Government has decided to send a delegation to Japan for the purpose of studying the application of the constitutional system in this country; in March, 1935, Siamese officials accorded an elaborate welcome to the Japanese Training Squadron which consisted of 174 naval cadets, including three Imperial Princes; a group of eleven Siamese army officers came to Japan in January, last, to remain for several years for the study of Japanese military science; Colonel Phya Bahol, President of the Siamese Council of Ministers, recently granted an interview to a correspondent of the Osaka Mainichi in which he was reported to have stated that Siam was turning its eyes toward Japan as “a younger brother toward an older brother”; a number of Osaka businessmen have decided to set aside ¥50,000 annually to be used for the education of twenty young Siamese desirous of pursuing studies in the commercial schools of Osaka; in March of this year several Japanese firms obtained a contract for the construction of 164 railway bridges in Siam against the bids of numerous foreign firms of ten different countries; the War Office announced on April 1 that Japan would soon appoint its first military attaché to Siam and that the person to be sent to the Legation at Bangkok in this capacity would be Major Seiji Moriya of the Army General Staff; and Japan has decided to import a larger quantity of Siamese rice than it has customarily imported in recent years.‡ With regard to the last mentioned report, I am informed that the French Ambassador, upon evincing doubt over the matter in a conversation with the Siamese Minister, was assured by the latter of the truth of the report and of the feasibility of the Japanese proposal.
On the evening of April 16 the Siamese Minister gave a large, carefully arranged, and sumptuous reception at which a troupe of Siamese dancers then visiting in Japan gave an exhibition of their art. This reception was attended not only by the diplomatic corps almost “en masse” and by high Japanese officials, including the Premier, the Cabinet, and numbers of Army and Navy officers, but also by Prince and Princess Chichibu and eight other Imperial Princes and their consorts. [Page 157] It may be noted in this connection that the present Prime Minister practically never attends diplomatic functions.
As reported in the Embassy’s telegram No. 92 of April 26, 1935, the Jiji of April 23 published a report that the Government of Siam had approached the Japanese Shipbuilding Association for the delivery of thirty “warships” to cover a six-year building programme and that the Association was favorably disposed toward the proposal. Immediately after the publication of the report, an official press ban was placed by the Japanese authorities on further comment concerning the matter, which would indicate that the Jiji report had some foundation. In addition, press telegrams to American newspapers on this subject were stopped by the censor. Mr. Wilfrid Fleisher, correspondent of the New York Herald Tribune, informs the Embassy that he sent a report on the Siamese proposal to his newspaper by mail and that it will reach New York about May 7th or 8th. The news despatch of Mr. Fleisher comments also on the general question of a Siamese-Japanese rapprochement and mentions some of the developments already set forth in this despatch. The Commercial Attaché, who is well acquainted with the Siamese Minister, states that he was informed by him that the warships which the Siamese Government desires to have built in Japan are “a few” coast guard cutters and not thirty men of war.
Several factors appear to underlie the apparent urge toward a strengthening of friendly relations between Japan and Siam. To begin with, Buddhism is the predominant religion both in Japan and Siam, and there have been quite close religious connections between the two countries over a long period. Also, Siam was the only member of the League of Nations that abstained from voting at Geneva when the League adopted the Lytton Report. Besides, there may be some truth in the report, mentioned above, that the Siamese Government desires to lessen Western influence in Siam. M. Mitrakarm Raksha stated to the Commercial Attaché of the Embassy that the Siamese were somewhat annoyed with the British over the actions during the last few years of the British financial adviser to Siam, who holds his position under the provisions of Great Britain’s loan agreements with that country. There is apparently a feeling among the Siamese that the British adviser has been negligent toward the welfare of Siam and has abused his position to promote British interests. Finally, a Siamese-Japanese rapprochement would logically fit into Japan’s embryonic Pan-Asiatic scheme.
It is impossible to predict the larger consequences of the present growing understanding between Japan and Siam. The French Ambassador, at any rate, is of the opinion that Siamese-Japanese cooperation [Page 158] must be reckoned with now for the reason that it may eventually have an important effect on the political situation of the whole of Asia.
Respectfully yours,
- Embassy’s telegram No. 92, April 26, 1935, and Monthly Political Report for September, 1934, Section II (g). [Footnote in the original; telegram and report not printed.]↩
- See Monthly Report for January, 1935, Section II (e). [Footnote in the original; report not printed.]↩
- Embassy’s Monthly Reports for January, 1935, Section II (e) and March, 1935, Section II (j). [Footnote in the original; reports not printed.]↩