Office of the Historian

811.20/11–145

Memorandum Prepared in the War Department1

[Washington, November 1, 1945.]

Questions by the War Department To Obtain State Department Guidance

[Here follows the first question and part of the second, regarding United States occupation forces in certain countries.]

b. (2) In connection with granting our Allies certain rights in Japan, what, if any, corollary involvement in continental affairs in the Far East do we foresee and accept? From a military point of view, this determines what military steps must be designed against unacceptable aggression in the Orient. For instance, it would be most valuable to have a clear cut statement of minimum interests from which the U. S. will not retreat in the event of a clash of interests in the Far East, particularly concerning Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, North China and Korea.2

[Here follows question regarding Air Transport Command operating in occupied countries.]

  1. Transmitted to the Secretary of State by the Secretary of the Navy in his memorandum of October 9, not printed.↩
  2. For reply to section b (2) by the Department of State, see memorandum prepared in the Offices of European and Far Eastern Affairs, November 29, p. 688.↩