793.94Commission/812: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 20—7:07 a.m.]
43. The Foreign Office spokesman stated definitely this afternoon that the Cabinet this morning decided that Japan will secede from the League of Nations if that assembly adopts the report and recommendations of the Committee of Nineteen but that the time and manner of [Page 110] withdrawal have not yet been determined. This decision he states has been telegraphed to the Japanese delegation at Geneva for use in formulating the counter-statement to the report and recommendations.
The newspapers further report that it was decided that Japan will not give definite notice of withdrawal until after the return of Matsuoka to Japan after the middle of March.
[Paraphrase.] The decision to withdraw cannot yet be said to be final, since it must obtain Imperial sanction after approval by the Privy Council, but the opposition to withdrawal seems to have been overcome. The step may be intended as a last-minute threat to the League in the hope of averting the adoption of the report and recommendations.31 The haste with which the Cabinet acted indicates such a possibility. [End paraphrase.]
The Foreign Office spokesman this morning also intimated that the Japanese advance into Jehol can now be expected to commence at any moment.
Repeated to Peiping.
- For the text of the report (including the recommendations) of the Special Committee of the Assembly (Committee of Nineteen), see League of Nations, Official Journal, Special Supplement No. 112, p. 56.↩