711.942/393: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
Tokyo, December
20, 1939—11 a.m.
[Received December 20—7:50 a.m.]
[Received December 20—7:50 a.m.]
692. Department’s 402, December 18, 2 p.m.,42 and 403, December 18, 5 p.m.
- 1.
- The principles and procedures laid down by the Government of the United States as fundamental conditions for entering upon treaty negotiations are sound and unassailable.
- 2.
- With regard to the last paragraph of the Department’s telegram under reference the question of negotiating a new commercial treaty or agreement has now, of course, been raised by the Japanese Government. The Department’s statement, both in its tone and in its content, is a wholly admirable presentation of our position and would, I believe, be of great value if it could be communicated to the Japanese Government, especially as it confirms in almost every particular the view which we have informally expressed to the Foreign Office on many occasions during the past few months. I therefore recommend that I be authorized to present it textually to the Minister for Foreign Affairs at the moment of communicating to him the Department’s reply to his proposal for commencing treaty conversations, labeling it as responsive to a question which he raised during our conversation on December 18.
- 3.
- The Department observes in paragraph 6 of telegram No. 402 that the Government of the United States will be glad to have evidence of the steps which the Japanese Government is taking towards giving practical effect to its expressed desire and intention to meet the considerations set forth by the American Government.
- 4.
- A close study of the statement made to me by the Foreign Minister on December 18 (our 687, December 18, 10 p.m.43) will indicate [Page 625] that the desired evidence is already in some measure forthcoming and that while progress in implementing its assurances may not be rapid or immediately effective, nevertheless it is unquestionably clear that the Japanese Government is now embarked upon a new orientation, namely a policy of respecting American rights and interests in China.
- 5.
- Whether the carrying out of this policy in fact is to be progressive and whether it will eventually lead to the development of a situation in China which the Government of the United States would regard as sufficiently responsive to our conditions for entering upon negotiations for a new treaty will depend in large measure upon the position which our Government now takes in response to Admiral Nomura’s statement and proposals.
- 6.
- A highly placed Japanese who is fundamentally friendly to the United States and in whose judgment and directness I have full confidence told me yesterday that the Cabinet has “burned its bridges” and staked its reputation before the public in announcing its decision to open the Yangtze; that this decision was taken in the face of important opposition; that the Cabinet cannot now recede from its policy of conciliating the United States; that in the absence of some responsive gesture from the United States in reply to the proposal for treaty negotiations, the Cabinet would come under such a storm of protest in Japan that it could not survive, and that further progress in meeting American desiderata would then become almost impossible. This friend sees very clearly that the situation is not yet ripe for concluding a new treaty but he most strongly urges the offer of a modus vivendi, if necessary of limited duration, to tide over this most critical period in American-Japanese relations. His advice fully confirms and is almost completely identical with the views expressed in my 689, December 18, midnight.
- 7.
- In the light of the Department’s request for my comments on the statement contained in Department’s 402, I feel that this present telegram and my 689 fully cover the situation.
Grew