Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1940, The British Commonwealth, The Soviet Union, The Near East and Africa, Volume III

893.24/1014

Memorandum of Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Welles)

[Washington,] November 27, 1940.

The Soviet Ambassador called to see me this afternoon.

I said to the Ambassador that as he knew, this Government regarded with the utmost interest the situation of China and that it was prepared to give further material assistance to China. I stated that the maintenance of the independence and integrity of China was a primary objective in the foreign policy of the United States. The Ambassador stated that he was authorized likewise to say that the policy of the Soviet with regard to China was identical with that of the United States. He agreed that insofar as Russia and the United States were concerned, there was no conflict of interest between them in the Pacific, but that, on the contrary, their objectives were similar. I asked the Ambassador if it was true that his Government had ceased to give material assistance to China in recent months. He stated that so far as he was informed this was not correct and that in a recent conversation which he had had with Dr. T. V. Soong,²³ Dr. Soong had assured him that Russian military supplies were still being received by the Chinese Government from the Soviet. The Ambassador expressed great interest in Japanese movements in southern Asia.²⁴ He expressed the opinion that Japan was probably preparing through Indochina and Thailand some movement against Singapore from the rear. I said that this might well be the case although some attack against the Netherlands East Indies was, of course, likewise possible. I said that I had no very clear impression as yet that the Japanese Government had in fact determined what course it was going to pursue. I stated that it seemed to me undoubtedly true that Japanese activities in southern Asia would be far less in scope and extent if the Chinese Government had both the moral and material support of Russia.²⁵

S[umner] W[elles]

23. Chairman, Board of Directors, Bank of China; formerly Finance Minister.
24. Details of the Japanese southward advance are given in vol. iv, pp. 1 ff.
25. See also memorandum of November 27 by the Under Secretary of State, p. 413, and the memorandum of December 16 by the Assistant Chief of the Division of European Affairs, p. 420.