793.94/11650: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Bullitt) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 15—9:35 a.m.]
1732. A number of French statesmen have approached me during the past 2 days with questions regarding our policy in the Far East. Behind their questioning lies a hope that the United States may take action against Japan; but there is also complete recognition that France cannot apply force in the Far East and that it might be injurious to the interests of France in Europe if Great Britain should become heavily engaged in the Far East.
This opinion was expressed publicly this morning the 15th by Pertinax in the Echo de Paris as follows:
“The worst would be that Great Britain, under the pretext of supporting the United States and of gaining the United States for a permanent cooperation, should let herself go in a dangerous counter-stroke in the China Sea. In the condition of Europe today British forces should not be withdrawn from the principal task, which consists of holding in check the two totalitarian states which are our neighbors. It is not by action in the Far East but by action in Europe that British prestige may be reestablished.”