793.94/10365: Telegram
The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 1—3:25 p.m.]
624. Your 399, September 28, 7 p.m.65 was taken up orally with Cadogan66 on September 29. At the time the Foreign Office had not received any direct information from its representatives at Shanghai. Cadogan said that he appreciated the information and agreed with your view expressed in penultimate paragraph. He said that he would consult immediately with the Foreign Secretary as to what action might be taken by the British. The Foreign Office informed me today that after my talk with Cadogan a communication had been received from the British commander in chief at Shanghai somewhat similar to the one from Consul General Gauss. Foreign Office further stated that last night an instruction was sent to the British Ambassador at Tokyo to inform the Japanese Government that His Majesty’s Government took strong exception to the presence of Japanese troops in International Settlement, and that the presence of these troops in International Settlement had no justification except as a measure of defense of an area in which foreign countries generally are concerned; to go beyond this brings into question the whole status of the Settlement and jeopardizes immense interests of other countries; the British Government therefore must strongly protest against the continued use by the Japanese Government of the International Settlement as a base for military operations. The British Ambassador was at the same time instructed to consult with his American colleague and, if possible, to make representations on the same day. If the American Ambassador had not received instructions to make such representations the British Ambassador was to make his alone.
The telegram to the Ambassador at Tokyo was reported to Washington and instructions sent to the British Chargé d’Affaires to communicate [Page 562] it to the Department and to ask if the United States might be able to make similar representations.67