611.51G9/24: Telegram

The Consul at Hanoi (Reed) to the Secretary of State

14. Reference my telegram No. 10, January 31, 3 p.m.

1.
Repeated interventions with the Government General, which has in turn intervened with the Japanese mission at Hanoi and the Japanese military at Haiphong, have had no success in permitting the Standard-Vacuum Oil Company to reexport the petroleum products previously authorized for reexportation. Efforts are being continued to secure this reexportation but there appears to be little chance of success.
2.
At the same time efforts are being made to obtain the reexportation of an air-conditioning plant belonging to Andersen, Meyer and Company, Shanghai, and lubricating oil belonging to the MacMillan Petroleum Corporation, Los Angeles, previously granted reexportation permits by the Government General after agreement by the Japanese mission but now refused reexportation by the Japanese military at Haiphong.
3.
According to the French liaison officer with the mission, the Japanese will not permit the reexportation of commodities which are suspected of being destined for free China by way of Rangoon.
4.
The Secretary General in discussing the attitude of the Japanese towards American owned goods at Haiphong remarked that the Japanese in Tongking were formerly somewhat hesitant to interfere openly with bona fide American owned property but that now they did not seem to care whether they were interfering with American property rights or not.
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Sent to Cavite for repetition to the Department, Chungking, Peiping, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Canton.

Reed