740.0011 P. W./474
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Acting Secretary of State
Mr. Butler of the British Embassy called to see me this afternoon at his request. Mr. Butler brought up the question of the impending Japanese occupation of Indochina. He said that the British Government was giving publicity to the reports since this, in their judgment, was the best way of undertaking preventive measures. The British Government wanted to know if this Government would not instruct Admiral Leahy to try to persuade the French Government to procrastinate as far as possible and I told Mr. Butler this had already been done. I added that in view of the news received this morning of the fall of the Japanese Cabinet,93 I thought we had better leave any decisions we might reach in abeyance until we knew from the constitution of the new Cabinet what type of policy it would be likely to follow.
- See telegram No. 1025, July 18, 2 p.m., from the Ambassador in Japan, and footnote 24, vol. iv, p. 326.↩