751G.94/122: Telegram
The Consul at Hanoi (Reed) to the Secretary of State
[Received 1:25 p.m.]
With reference to my telegram dated September 18, 5 p.m.,85 a special train has been ordered for tomorrow morning to evacuate all Japanese from Hanoi (and Tongking) including the Japanese Consul General and staff and the Japanese military mission. Japanese vessels are at Haiphong. The Japanese Consul General told the Governor General this was being done to avoid any possible incidents.
The Governor General informed me further that the conversations have proceeded reasonably amicably to date without an ultimatum or threat and that the evacuation is therefore inexplicable. But General Tominaga during his conversations with General Martin and the Governor General openly stated that the attitude of the Japanese Government [Page 127] vis-à-vis diplomatic negotiations with Indochina has changed, that for the time being the Japanese are not interested in discussing the political and economic questions included in the Tokyo–Vichy agreement.
In this connection the Governor General added that the Japanese have renounced any intention of using Tongking as a base of operations against China. Therefore, the Japanese demands for military bases in Tongking can only be considered as a definite demand for the occupation of Tongking. He considers the situation is serious and charged with grave potentialities.
Sent to Cavite. Repeated to the Department, Chungking, Peiping, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Canton. Chungking please repeat to Kunming.
- Not printed.↩