751G.94/3744/7
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs (Hamilton) to the Acting Secretary of State
Mr. Welles: In connection with your forthcoming interview with the Japanese Ambassador,48 the following may be of interest:
Mr. Wikawa telephoned Mr. Ballantine and said that the Japanese Embassy had been informed by the Japanese Government that all their negotiations with the Vichy Government had been peacefully settled. He said he felt that this would give the lie to all the propaganda that is now being circulated designed to discredit Japan. He said that in Japan Fifth Columnists have been active in trying to discredit Japan and have been sending code telegrams, which could be deciphered. He hoped that in view of the fact that Japanese negotiations with Vichy were peacefully settled we could proceed speedily with our proposed understanding. He added that the Ambassador was seeing Mr. Welles at three o’clock today, but Mr. Wikawa wished to let me know as speedily as possible of the fact of the peaceful settlement with Vichy.
- See memorandum by Mr. Welles of July 23, 1941, Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. ii, p. 522.↩