711B.94/20
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 16.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a memorandum21 of a conversation between Mr. Hirota, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. J. V. A. MacMurray, Chairman of the Joint Preparatory Committee on Philippine Affairs, which occurred on November 20, when I took Mr. MacMurray to call on Mr. Hirota as the former spent a day in Tokyo on returning from Manila to Washington. It will be noted that Mr. Hirota volunteered the statement that he understood that there was in the Philippine Islands and elsewhere considerable apprehension of aggressive designs on the part of Japan; that there was no basis for any such fear; that Japan had no designs on the Philippines; and that Mr. Hirota would be glad to conclude some sort of an agreement for the purpose of clearing up any such misapprehensions. Neither Mr. MacMurray nor I made any comment on the Minister’s remark.
Respectfully yours,
[Correspondence on the undeclared war between Japan and China is continued in volume IV.]
- Not printed.↩