793.94 Conference/342
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of European Affairs (Moffat) of a Conversation With the Japanese Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Yoshida)15
I called on Mr. Yoshida at the Hotel Meurice by appointment and explained how disappointed Mr. Davis was at not being able to see him. The doctor, however, was adamant and refused to allow him to have any interviews and insisted upon his remaining in bed until his ship sailed.
Mr. Yoshida expressed great regret, the more so as he had come to Paris for the sole purpose of seeing Mr. Davis. He said that he was not allowing one day to go by without doing everything he could on behalf of peace. At the moment he, Ambassador Sugemura and Ambassador Kurusu were working in close touch with one another even at the risk of being branded as defeatists in their own country.
He said that a week or two ago he had seen Mr. Eden and Mr. Cadogan and had tried to convince them that the moment was ripe for British and American mediation, either joint or separate. Mr. Eden had immediately remarked, “I wonder what America would think of the idea.” In fact, said Mr. Yoshida, throughout all of his talks during the past few months Mr. Eden has been so preoccupied with American reaction to the Japanese problem that he sometimes jokingly questioned whether Mr. Eden was Foreign Secretary of Great Britain or the United States.
Mr. Yoshida regretted that Japan had rejected both the first invitation to the Brussels Conference and the second invitation to appoint representatives to discuss matters with a small group of delegates. He said, however, that the Japanese had developed a complex against conferences. They felt that every time they had gotten into an international gathering their delegates had lost out and he briefly reviewed the history of the gatherings at Washington and at London. But although Japan had rejected the two invitations, [Page 234] he insisted that this did not mean that she was no longer interested in mediation. He felt that the present moment was a peculiarly valuable one psychologically. Japan had won an enormous victory at Shanghai. She was moving on Nanking, which she could take very easily. If, however, it were possible to bring about a cessation of hostilities before Nanking fell, it would be much easier for China to “save face” than if she waited until her capital had been conquered.
As a matter of fact, sometime back Mr. Hirota had mentioned the subject of peace to both Mr. Grew and Sir Robert Craigie. Perhaps he did so in rather veiled terms, but nonetheless he had made his meaning clear. The Japanese were very disappointed that a few days ago, when Mr. Grew brought Ambassador MacMurray16 to call on Mr. Hirota, he had not reraised the subject of peace or mediation. The fact that Mr. Hirota had sent a telegram to that effect to Mr. Yoshida struck the latter as significant. He had been casting around in his mind to think up reasons why we had not accepted the suggestion of Mr. Hirota and one reason which had occurred to him was that Ambassador Saito in Washington had not reinforced the suggestion in any talks with Mr. Hull. He said that, of course, Mr. Saito may have had his reasons, or he may have been just timid!! But [be] that as it may, Mr. Yoshida felt, speaking entirely personally, that Mr. Davis could do both countries a big service if he could help bring about closer and friendlier contact between Mr. Hull and Ambassador Saito.
Mr. Yoshida asked me if I knew of Sir Robert Craigie’s talk with Mr. Hirota. I asked him which one. He said a recent talk in which Sir Robert Craigie, speaking entirely personally, had asked whether the Japanese would accept Great Britain not as a mediator but as an intermediary and would submit to him the Japanese terms of peace provided the Chinese would do the same to his colleague in China. After considerable thought, Mr. Hirota had declined this suggestion, pointing out that it would be impossible for Japan to negotiate at present except directly with China. Mr. Yoshida was afraid that Craigie might have taken this remark too literally. In Mr. Yoshida’s opinion it would be necessary for political reasons to initiate direct negotiations, but he felt that once this first step were passed it would be an easy matter to enlarge this to include other powers having rights and interests in the Far East.
He then said that the British had shown considerable anxiety lest Japan’s peace terms should prove unduly onerous. He felt that the world would be surprised at Japan’s moderation. He said that Japan had voluntarily withdrawn from Shanghai in 1932 and he was convinced that she would do likewise in 1937. In the north of China the situation was more difficult and Japan might have to ask greater [Page 235] concessions, but the difficulty there arose from the fact that Nanking had been unwilling to recognize “Manchukuo” and the Japanese were forced further to protect “Manchukuo”. As to economic terms, he thought that Japan would not only be liberal but positively helpful as she knew that her ultimate prosperity depended upon the creation of a rich and prosperous Chinese market for her exports.
He then came back and made another and most pressing plea that the United States and Great Britain, jointly or separately, should again suggest mediation. I asked if he could be a little more specific in describing how he envisaged such a move. Mr. Yoshida was vague, saying that the details were not the essential, but he left no doubt in my mind that what the Japanese thought when they spoke of mediation was that Great Britain and America, either jointly or separately, should persuade China to enter into direct negotiations with Japan, reserving the right later on to join in these conversations after they marked progress.
Mr. Yoshida throughout was perfectly frank in saying that he was not speaking on behalf of his Government but in a personal capacity. He said, however, that he had been studying the situation for years and that he was convinced that what he said contained so many elements of truth that the broad picture was undoubtedly correct. All Japan wanted peace, the public because it was unhappy over the dislocation of hostilities, the militarists because they were sufficiently realistic to know that the sooner they could close the present campaign the more certain they would be that the Russian menace would not materialize.
In closing, Mr. Yoshida again urged that Mr. Davis interest himself personally in the matter, and that, if he had any ideas or suggestions as to how he, Mr. Yoshida, could be of help in London, that he write him privately and off the record.