793.003/903
Memorandum by the Counselor of the American Embassy in Japan (Dooman) of a Conversation With Mr. Ishii of the American Bureau of the Japanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Referring to the conversation which I had a few days ago with Mr. Yoshizawa, I asked Mr. Ishii whether the text of the statement of the spokesman of the Japanese Embassy at Shanghai denying that foreigners had extraterritorial rights in areas under Japanese occupation, had been received from Shanghai. Mr. Ishii replied that a report had been received from Mr. Hidaka, the Japanese Consul General at Shanghai, to the effect that the press accounts of the statement attributed to the spokesman were entirely incorrect; that the original version was originated by Reuters’ correspondent, who is [Page 771] described as “inexperienced”, and that Reuters had subsequently given out a correct version. What the spokesman had said was in effect that, in referring to the Thomson case, foreigners enjoying extraterritorial rights could not invoke those rights to refuse search by Japanese soldiers in areas under Japanese military occupation.
I asked whether Mr. Hidaka had telegraphed the official text of the spokesman’s statement. Mr. Ishii said that he did not have the telegram before him, but that it was his impression that the text had not been telegraphed.