893.6363 Manchuria/164: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 10—1:28 p.m.]
77. 1. The British Ambassador has received instructions to deliver to the Minister for Foreign Affairs a strongly phrased reply to the Japanese aide-mémoire of March 25 to the effect that the Japanese communication is entirely unsatisfactory and that the British Government must hold the Japanese Government responsible for losses caused to British interests by the establishment of the monopoly.
2. Clive is furthermore directed to state orally that Sir John Simon81 will probably be obliged to set forth the situation to the House of Commons which will have a deplorable effect on British public opinion, and that he will also probably be obliged to publish the last British aide-mémoire in view of the fact that the Japanese had published their own aide-mémoire.
3. Clive expects to carry out these instructions on April 12. He informs me that his Government, which now believes that the monopoly cannot be averted, is exceedingly angry and not only fears that the oil monopoly will lead to other monopolies in Manchuria but understands that the Japanese Government is urging Siam to declare a similar monopoly on oil.
4. Clive told me in strict confidence of the instructions cabled to Lindsay82 from London on April 9 in which the latter is directed to mention to the Department the understanding of the Anglo-Dutch oil interests that the California oil companies would not be averse to cutting off their supply of crude oil to Japan.
5. The Foreign Office has just delivered the reply to our aide-mémoire of November 30 but it has not yet been translated. A summary will be telegraphed tomorrow.83
To Peiping by mail.
- British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.↩
- Sir Ronald Lindsay, British Ambassador at Washington.↩
- For text of Japanese reply dated April 10, see Foreign Relations, Japan 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 146; the American note is printed ibid., p. 143.↩