793.94/11026
Memorandum by the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
In accordance with the Department’s instructions conveyed in telegram No. 261, October 14, 5 p.m.,57 I called this afternoon on the Minister for Foreign Affairs at the Gaimusho and opened the conversation by referring to the plans, which the Minister had already seen reported in the press, for the convocation of a conference of the parties to the Nine Power Treaty. I said I did not know whether these plans were yet completed or where the conference would take place, although Brussels had been prominently mentioned in this connection. I then said to the Minister, acting under instructions, that the American Government is proceeding on the assumption that the Japanese Government shares the view of the American Government that the proposed conference of the parties to the Nine Power Treaty will offer a useful opportunity for a reasoned and frank discussion of the difficulties, both present and underlying, of the situation in the Far East with a view to seeking to arrive at a constructive solution by a process of peaceful agreement, and that the Japanese Government will attend the proposed conference. I then for a few moments elaborated the thoughts contained in the foregoing statement and the great importance of seizing this opportunity both for the purpose of a frank and free exchange of views and for finding a basis from which a constructive settlement could be reached.
The Minister after listening carefully to my oral presentation, replied that no decision had yet been reached by the Japanese Government because no invitation to attend such a conference had been received, but that according to the present tendency of views within the Japanese Government such an invitation would be declined. I repeated word for word the Minister’s reply and asked him if this was the answer to my representations which he wished me to report to my Government. Mr. Hirota replied in the affirmative.
I then said to the Minister that my official representations were completed and that I wished now to speak personally and informally. I said that Japan had shown every indication of desiring to have her point of view known in the world and that the Japanese Government was sending abroad good-will envoys for the specific purpose of explaining that point of view. Did not the Minister think that the proposed conference would offer an excellent opportunity for a frank and free discussion in which both combatants could express their respective points of view and that such an exchange of views might well lead to an earlier peaceful settlement than if the present warfare is allowed to pursue its course? Mr. Hirota replied that the [Page 403] League of Nations had already taken the part of China against Japan and that such a conference would merely result in bolstering up China and in prolonging rather than shortening the warfare. I asked whether such a conference might not offer an opportunity to discuss terms of peace. The Minister replied that China already well knows the terms on which peace would be possible as he had been discussing them with Chiang Kai-shek for the last four years. I said: “Do you mean your three points?” The Minister said “in general, yes”. The Minister added that ever since the conclusion of the Sino-Soviet Pact a settlement of the troubles had become much more difficult and that Chiang Kai-shek was no longer free to follow his own wishes. I said: “Do you mean that he is estopped by the Soviets”. Mr. Hirota said: “and also by his own generals”. I said I understood that the Sino-Soviet Agreement was merely a pact of non-aggression. Mr. Hirota replied that he thought it went much farther than that. I said: “Do you mean that it contains secret clauses”. Mr. Hirota nodded an affirmative.
After a further expression of hope on my part that the Japanese Government would still see its way clear to participate in the forthcoming conference the conversation terminated.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
- Not printed.↩