693.002/434: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 29—2:30 a.m.]
695. Department’s 375, December 25, 2 p.m. I called last evening on the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, renewed in detail and with emphasis the previous representations made to the Foreign Minister and delivered a further signed note26 embodying the points mentioned in the penultimate paragraph of the Department’s 375. My British and French colleagues have taken similar action. The Vice Minister said that the matter was being carefully studied. He reiterated the previous general assurances of Hirota that American interests would be given full consideration.
I said to the Vice Minister that in my own opinion the integrity of the Chinese Customs certainly represented one of the American interests envisaged in the final paragraph of our Panay note December 14th27 which should not be subjected to unlawful interference by any Japanese authorities or forces whatever and that in the light of our acceptance of the Japanese note of December 24th28 as “responsive” to our desires, it would be deplorable if [interference] with that specific American interest should now occur. Although I said that I had not been instructed to point to this particular connection, it seemed to me that the point gave the Vice Minister food for thought.
Repeated to Shanghai.
- Note No. 853, December 28, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 734.↩
- See Department’s telegram No. 342, December 13, 8 p.m., to the Ambassador in Japan, ibid., p. 523.↩
- See telegram No. 679, December 24, 8 p.m., from the Ambassador in Japan, ibid., p. 549.↩