740.0011 Pacific War/675
The British Ambassador (Halifax) to the
Secretary of State
Washington, 1 December,
1941.
Dear Mr. Hull: I received last night a
telegram from the Foreign Office, of which I send you a copy, as the
point may possibly arise in the course of your discussions this
morning.
You will remember you mentioned the point to me as I was leaving your
office yesterday.
Yours very sincerely,
[Enclosure]
The British Foreign
Office to the British
Embassy
It is conceivable that United States Government may raise with you
the question of the compatibility of the operation referred to with
our treaty of non-aggression with Thailand. It may be useful for you
to know therefore that we have given careful consideration to this
point.
2. In July last we informed the Thai Government that we should regard
the grant of bases to Japan as an infraction of that treaty.
Similarly (although we have as yet made no communication to the Thai
Government) we should not feel we could allow the treaty to be a bar
to our entering Thailand if a Japanese invasion occurred or was
clearly impending. But it would be greatly preferable if in these
eventualities we could act in co-operation with the Thai Government.
If therefore it were decided to undertake the operation, we should
naturally do our best to secure Thais’ consent. It would be
important however not to reveal to the Thai Government prematurely
the existence of our plan owing to the danger of leakage to the
Japanese.
[London,] 30.11.41.
