Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1938, The Far East, Volume IV

893.811/1040: Telegram

The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State

Tokyo, November 19, 1938—1 p.m.
[Received 2:45 p.m.]

742. Department’s 390, November 17, 2 p.m., freedom of navigation on Yangtze.

1. My British and French colleagues concur with me in the wisdom of adopting the procedure set forth at the beginning of paragraph numbered 2 in the Department’s telegram and we shall therefore take occasion within the next few days to express to the Japanese Foreign Office an oral rejoinder to the Japanese note of November 14⁷³ in the sense of the first and fourth sentences of Craigie’s British proposal set forth in our 730, November 15, 8 p.m.

2. I shall take occasion to make these oral representations to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in my talk with him on November 21.⁷⁴

3. Craigie feels that some kind of official publicity should be given in London and preferably also in Washington and Paris to the effect that we are dissatisfied with the Japanese note. I said I thought that my Government would prefer to delay such a step at least until I have reported the result of my conversation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs on Monday.

Grew

73. Foreign Relations, Japan, 1931–1941, vol. i, p. 795.
74. See memorandum by the Ambassador in Japan, November 21, 1938, ibid., p. 806.