Office of the Historian

756.94/83: Telegram

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

Washington, May 14, 1940—5 p.m.

151. On May 13 our Embassy at Paris telegraphed37 that according to a report received by the French Government from a source which some persons in the French Government take seriously, the Japanese Government has decided—on the pretext that it is necessary for Japan to make certain of the continuous and uninterrupted flow of certain products of the Netherlands East Indies—to send a small fleet and marines to seize those islands and that this action would take place within the next week. We believe that all such reports must be regarded with skepticism. Our Embassy at Paris also reports that it has been informed by the French Foreign Office that the French Ambassador at Tokyo has telegraphed that in his opinion Japanese action against the Netherlands East Indies was no more likely at this moment than it had been 2 weeks ago.

Hull
  1. Telegram No. 641, not printed.↩