861.77 Chinese Eastern/819
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Johnson)
The Japanese Ambassador came to see me today and referred to the Sino-Russian situation. I explained to him what had been done over Sunday and gave to him, in confidence, a copy of the statement which is to be issued to the press on December third. I also read to him the telegram which Mr. Neville had sent to us and stated that I felt quite happy to find that the Japanese Government was in agreement with us on this proposition and that Baron Shidehara had found it possible to speak to the Chinese and to the Russians along the lines of our statement.53 I said I quite realized their situation [Page 378] and appreciated his reluctance to make a statement along the lines of our own. I thought that in what he had done he had cooperated. The Ambassador seemed pleased at this and stated several times that he was sure Baron Shidehara would wish to do everything possible in the interests of peace and in the interests of supporting the Kellogg Pact. The Ambassador read the statement very carefully and was pleased to see that in making it we had stated that we had found in our discussions of the question a community of view with regard to the fundamental principles, thus making no difference between the attitude of Japan and that of the other countries. He seemed very grateful.