851G.014/1–246

The French Embassy to the Department of State

[Translation]
No. 1033

Memorandum

On January 1, 1945 [1946], the United Kingdom and Siam signed a treaty ending the state of war between the two countries and providing for annulment of the territorial acquisitions made by Siam at the expense of the British after December 7, 1941.

In an annex to this agreement,7 the British Government states that it does not recognize any of the territorial changes resulting from the seizure of territories belonging to the Indo-Chinese Union effected by the Siamese Government on May 6[9?], 1941.8

The French Government would be pleased if, adopting an attitude similar to that of the British Government, and in accordance with the assurances given by the Secretary of State to the Ambassador of France in a note dated October 1, 1945,9 the Government of the United States would be good enough to remind the Bangkok authorities that it also does not recognize the annexations that were made by Siam [Page 981] with Japan’s support and after the Japanese aggression policy had begun.

The French Government thinks that such a communication would greatly facilitate the conclusion of an agreement between France and Siam, and the re-establishment of satisfactory relations, thus making a useful contribution to the stability and the tranquility of Southeast Asia.

  1. Reference is to the exchange of letters on January 1, 1946, between the British and Siamese Governments; see footnote 2, p. 978.
  2. This refers, presumably, to the Convention of Peace between France and Thailand, signed at Tokyo on May 9, 1941, British and Foreign State Papers, vol. cxliv, p. 805. For references to documentation on this subject, see index entries for “French Indochina and Thailand, Japanese aggression” under “Southward advance of Japan”, Foreign Relations, 1941, vol. iv, p. 1041, and under “Thailand-French Indochina border dispute”, ibid., vol. v, p. 934.
  3. Ibid., 1945, vol. vi, p. 1346.