793.94/14286: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)94

379. The Department issued to the press today a statement reading as follows:

“In response to requests by the press for comments on the statement issued by the Japanese Government95 in regard to the situation in the Far East, the Secretary of State said that he felt it very important to view the situation in accurate and comprehensive perspective. The attitude of the United States and the position of the American Government in relations both with China and with Japan, as with other countries, are, he said, governed and guided by the generally accepted principles of international law, by the provisions of treaties to which the United States and numerous countries—among them China and Japan—are parties, and by principles of fair dealing and fair play between and among nations. This country’s position with regard to the situation in the Far East has, he said, repeatedly been declared, and this position remains unchanged”.

Hull
  1. The same to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom and the Chargé in France as telegrams Nos. 683 and 840, November 6, 4 p.m.
  2. Statement issued November 3, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 477.