851.85/490: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Leahy)
229. Your 490, April 2, 3 p.m. We have taken note of the information relating to the proposed “local agreement” with regard to the use of French ships in Indochinese and other Far Eastern ports by the Japanese Government.
[Page 682]We cannot accept the argument that any “local agreement” absolves the French Government from its responsibility with regard to ships in its own territorial waters and would consider any such arrangement as constituting the agreed delivery of French vessels to the Japanese for their military ends, since it would mean that French vessels will be used with the consent of the French Government against the United States. In particular, any service operating vessels between Japanese controlled ports and Madagascar could not be considered in conformity with the assurances given by the French Government concerning the extension of any foreign influence as regards Madagascar, and moreover operation of such a service would further undermine French security. You should inform the French Government accordingly.