761.9415 Amur River/5: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Davies) to the Secretary of State
[Received July 1—1:43 p.m.]
141. For the President and Secretary Hull. Japanese-Soviet situation developed most rapidly here after clash of armed forces late yesterday afternoon on the Amur River in locality, subject my cable of yesterday. Tension here very high with diplomatic discussions in [Page 923] the Foreign Office running late into the night. Situation here regarded in diplomatic circles as most serious and critical with marked potentialities. I beg to report that I called on the Japanese Ambassador this morning to procure the facts in the situation and to personally express the hope that the difficulties could be localized so as not to be permitted to spread and develop into possibility of war. This morning I made request for conference with Litvinov and expect see him soon. Japanese Ambassador discussed situation frankly and stated that position his Government was that it stood on established treaty rights which provided for a boundary frontier which afforded a channel in the center of a navigable stream available to both parties and that the equal rights of the parties would be destroyed if the Soviet claimed mainland on one side and islands on the other side of the main channel of the stream inasmuch as this would enable one party to control navigation on the river and would be contrary to the letter and spirit of the treaty. He stated further he was to see Litvinov today and was instructed to insist that status quo ante of islands be immediately projected in order to forefend possibility of additional armed clashes and in order to permit discussions of boundary frontier in peaceful atmosphere looking to amicable settlement thereof. He also expressed the hope that the situation could be localized and stated that he was bending every effort to that end. I assumed to act promptly and personally in view of the speed with which the situation was progressing and the tremendous dangers involved and because of my last talk with the President and his thought then in regard to a possible conference of Grew and myself as to the Far Eastern situation.
I made it specifically clear to the Japanese Ambassador that my comments were purely personal and not by direction of my Government.