Office of the Historian

893.102 Tientsin/640: Telegram

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

Tokyo, April 23, 1940—1 p.m.
[Received April 23—10:03 a.m.]

278. Department’s 119, April 18, 7 p.m.—Tientsin barriers.

1.
As the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs has been dealing with this question and as I have reason to believe that he is genuinely endeavoring to bring about complete raising of the barriers in Tientsin, I made the desired representations to him today as under my Government’s instructions and requested him to bring these representations to the attention of the Foreign Minister.20 My oral representations, supported by a pro memoria of five long typewritten pages21 which was left with the Vice Minister, recited our previous representations and followed closely the Department’s 119, April 18, 7 p.m., and the salient facts in Tientsin’s 53,21a 54 and 55.22 Representations were made with strong emphasis and a clear indication of the unfortunate effect on American public opinion to be expected from these long continued and recently aggravated conditions.23
2.
Mr. Tani, after listening to my representations, said that our request that instructions be sent to the Japanese authorities in Tientsin would be followed and that renewed efforts would be made to improve the situation. He added that he is optimistic that the barriers will soon be entirely withdrawn.
3.
Through an error of a secretary at the Foreign Office which was clearly unintentional and unknown to Tani, an appointment with the Vice Minister was made for the British Ambassador at the same hour [Page 853] as my appointment and Sir Robert Craigie arrived at the Vice Minister’s official residence soon after I had begun my representations. As we were both to discuss inter alia the situation in Tientsin, Tani asked if I had any objection to Sir Robert’s joining us. I replied that I had no objection provided that it be clearly understood that Craigie and I had not arrived simultaneously by prearrangement and that this point be made clearly to the press should it learn of our meeting. We were not making joint representations and neither Sir Robert nor I knew that the other had intended to come. Tani definitely promised to state to the press, should publicity ensue, that we had come separately. I left to Tani the question of the helpfulness of giving publicity in Japan to my representations.
4.
Sir Robert in his representations said that the situation as regards British nationals at the barriers is steadily becoming worse and that in the face of continual anti-British actions of the Japanese forces in China, his Government is beginning to wonder whether its conciliatory policy toward Japan is justified. It is obvious, he said, that the provisional agreement on the silver and currency questions must depend upon the complete raising of the barriers and he charged the Japanese military with bad faith in failing to implement the Japanese side of the bargain which so long has been under negotiations. At this point Tani repeated his optimistic prediction as to the raising of the barriers.

Repeated to Tientsin.

Grew
  1. Hachiro Arita.↩
  2. Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 678. On April 27 the Ambassador in Japan made further representations (893.102 Tientsin/672).↩
  3. April 11, noon, p. 848.↩
  4. Neither printed.↩
  5. For Japanese note verbale in reply, dated May 10, see Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 680.↩