Office of the Historian

893.24/744: Telegram

The Consul at Hanoi (Reed) to the Secretary of State

Hanoi, June 17, 1940—noon.
[Received June 17—10:47 a.m.]

I am informed orally by the Foreign Office that an order was issued this morning prohibiting the transit of all cargo to China. It is [Page 26] rumored that the reason for the order is to retain in Indo-China supplies for defensive purposes or the acceptance of an ultimatum such as that mentioned in my despatch 98 dated June 450 or a combination of the above.

Sent to naval radio, Cavite, for repetition to the Department, Chungking, Peiping, Hong Kong.

Reed
  1. Not printed; it reported a conversation with Marc Chadourne, a French writer, in which he said he believed it possible that Japan would issue an ultimatum to Indochina to stop all shipments to the Chinese Government (893.00/14558).↩