693.001/474
Memorandum by the Ambassador in Japan (Grew)
At the request of the Minister for Foreign Affairs I called on him this morning. The Minister said that with the thought in mind that it would be helpful for us to have frequent conversations he desired to reply to some of the representations which I had made to him in our conversation of November 21. He said that following my own procedure and in view of the somewhat complicated nature of the subject under reference he had set down his oral comments in an unofficial paper which he thereupon read aloud and handed to me. (Appendix one).33
The Minister then said that he proposed to see the British Ambassador this afternoon and to reply to the British memorandum wherein Sir Robert Craigie had aimed to refute the suggestion that the British Empire could be regarded as an economic bloc in which Japan suffered trade discrimination. The Minister then read aloud to me his reply to the British Ambassador and sent me a copy of the document after his [Page 814] conversation with Sir Robert Craigie this afternoon. (Appendix two.)34
In subsequent conversation I said that I would refer the Minister’s observations to my Government whose position with regard to the general issues under reference had already been made perfectly clear and that this position had not changed.
The Foreign Minister made the statement “off the record” that one could hardly expect an improvement in the general situation until General Chiang Kai-shek had been completely eliminated. He made mention with great bitterness of the alleged support by Great Britain of the Generalissimo. He went on to say that the nature of the recent public comments in Parliament had rendered the British situation in East Asia much more difficult, the implication being that the military people here had been angered by this publicity. He made a favorable comment on the absence in the United States recently of official publicity.
I found, as regards atmosphere, a stiffer attitude and phraseology on the part of the Minister who seemed more determined than in our last conversation. The Minister did not hesitate in talking today, although in general terms, about what we would be permitted to do or not to do in China. In conclusion he observed that much more could be accomplished by frequent conversations than by writing notes.