861.00/6874: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Morris) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 6—6:25 a.m.]
219. My 214, May 4, 9 p.m.72 It is reliably reported that the Cabinet, at a meeting on May 4, decided to support the provisional government in the Maritime Province and give it effective power in the hope that it might serve as a buffer state against Bolshevism and render possible the evacuation of the Japanese troops. Press comment[s] on the subject of a buffer state in Eastern Siberia have been greatly stimulated of late by the reports of the Nichi Nichi correspondent in Moscow who alleges that in interviews given him by the diplomatic authorities, they expressed themselves favorable to such a project. The general tenor of the comments is that the scheme cannot be realized.
- Not printed.↩