Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1939, The Far East, Volume III

893.51/6933

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hamilton)

[Washington,] June 5, 1939.

The French Ambassador called. He said that he understood that the Department had received from the British Foreign Office a statement of the British Foreign Office’s views in regard to the question of the advisability of utilizing economic and financial pressure against Japan.¹⁶ I expressed some surprise and said that I knew of nothing new on this subject. The Ambassador then said that he understood that a number of months ago, perhaps last November, the Department had made inquiry of the British Foreign Office in regard to this matter and that the British Foreign Office in response to this inquiry had presented to the Department its views. I then said that I had gained the impression from the Ambassador’s first statement that there had been some recent development in this regard and that I recalled the statement which had been communicated to the Department by the British some months ago. The Ambassador continued that the British Foreign Office had taken the matter up with the French Foreign Office and that as a result of the British approach the French Foreign Office had undertaken a study of the subject. The Ambassador said that in the study made by the French Foreign Office attention had been given to various economic and financial measures which might be taken;¹⁷ that toward the end of its study the French Foreign Office made a number of observations: first, it was the impression of the French Foreign Office that the credits which had been extended to China had not been used by China with maximum effectiveness; second, the French Foreign Office considered that coordination of measures and of effort was highly desirable; and third, the French Foreign Office considered that solidarity among the various powers was highly important toward ensuring the success of any measures which might be adopted. The Ambassador said that in the study made by the French Foreign Office attention had been given to the attempt to apply economic measures against Italy during the Italian-Ethiopian trouble. The Ambassador said that that attempt showed that coordination and solidarity were very important. The Ambassador said also that the French Government had imposed an embargo against exports of iron from French Indochina to Japan but that the French Government had subsequently removed the embargo in the light of the fact that the French Government had observed that Japan’s inability to obtain iron from French Indochina had caused Japan merely to deflect its purchases to British Malaya and to some extent to the Philippine Islands. The Ambassador said that the conclusion of the study made by the French Foreign Office was to the general effect that the French Foreign Office had nothing particular in mind at the present time but was of the opinion that there was definite need of proceeding with coordination of measures of financial aid to China.¹⁸

I thanked the Ambassador for his courtesy in furnishing us this outline of the study made by the French Foreign Office on the subject indicated.

M[axwell] M. H[amilton]

16. See aide-mémoire from the British Embassy, January 25, p. 490.
17. See also pp. 636 ff.
18. The Adviser on Political Relations (Hornbeck) on June 7 reminded the Secretary and Under Secretary of State that “You are already familiar with my views that, as between policies envisaging aid to China and policies envisaging withholding of aid from Japan, the former are preferable”.