793.94119/381
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hamilton)
| Participants: | Mr. V. A. L. Mallet, Counselor of the British Embassy; |
| Mr. Hamilton; | |
| Mr. Ballantine.25 |
Mr. Mallet, Counselor of the British Embassy, called at his request. He stated that according to a cable from the British Foreign Office the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs told Craigie26 on January 6 that Chiang Kai-shek made an approach to the American Government in regard to the Japanese peace terms which had been communicated to the Chinese Government through the German Ambassador in China. Mr. Mallet inquired whether we could inform him of the facts.
Mr. Mallet was informed that this probably had reference to peace terms which had been communicated in confidence to our Ambassador at Hankow by the Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, as reported in the Embassy’s 1, January 1, 10 p.m. Mr. Mallet was also informed that on December 31 the Chinese Ambassador at Washington had informed the President of the Japanese peace terms and that the President had made no comment thereon. As the Chinese [Page 12] had informed Ambassador Johnson that they considered the Japanese peace terms unacceptable this would appear to have ruled out any occasion for comment by our Ambassador on those terms.
Mr. Ballantine called up Mr. Mallet by telephone and stated that subsequent to Mr. Mallet’s visit to the Department this morning a telegram had been received from our Embassy at Tokyo stating that the Ambassador had been informed by the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs that about December 27 the German Ambassador had asked Hirota if he would state the Japanese peace terms which could be conveyed to Chiang Kai-shek through Ambassador Trautmann, and that Hirota had then stated the Japanese peace terms which Hirota had repeated to our Ambassador and which were the same as those communicated to Ambassador Johnson by the Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Mr. Ballantine also told Mr. Mallet the contents of the first paragraph of Hankow’s 2, January 2, 10 a.m., regarding the communication of the Japanese peace terms by the Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs to Gage, the representative at Hankow of the British Embassy.
Mr. Mallet did not ask for and was not given the text of the Japanese terms.