793.94/11846: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
Tokyo, December 28,
1937—noon.
[Received December 28—6:52 a.m.]
[Received December 28—6:52 a.m.]
686. The Naval Attaché reports that the following statements were made to him yesterday by the senior aide to the Navy Minister.
[Page 841]- “1. He informed me of the orders transmitted to Vice Admiral Hasegawa to prevent a recurrence of any happening similar to the Panay incident. These orders were from the Chief of the Naval General Staff and the Minister of the Navy. Lieutenant Layton61 believes they are worded in a language seldom if ever used before and that Vice Admiral Hasegawa’s reply is noteworthy. Captain Konda is furnishing me with translations.
- 2. I gave him the letter in regard to the proposed foreign neutral zone in Tsingtao.62 He said Vice Admiral Hasegawa was the responsible one to act and asked whether our authorities in Shanghai had informed him to which I replied I do not know but that our position in such cases was to transmit information to the Government authorities here with the expectation that they take the proper action. We assumed that our Government authorities in China acted in a similar manner. In this connection he volunteered the information that the navy was not contemplating any action for the present against Tsingtao. When asked about the army, he stated that ‘that was an army matter.’
- 3. When asked whether the navy was contemplating operations against South China, the reply was he could not give any information about that.”
Repeated to Shanghai for relay to Johnson.
Grew
- Lt. Edwin T. Layton, Assistant Naval Attaché in Japan.↩
- See telegram of December 21, 5 p.m., from the Consul at Tsingtao, vol. iv, p. 406.↩