793.94/15348: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Japan (Dooman)
276. With reference to the first paragraph of your telegram No. 458, September 5, 7 p.m., the Department yesterday addressed inquiries on the subject referred to therein to the British and the French Ambassadors in Washington.
With reference to the suggestion contained in paragraph two of your telegram No. 459, September 6, 7 p.m., final sentence, the Department has it under consideration.
Referring to the third paragraph of your telegram No. 459, we do not feel that it would be advisable, in your conversation with Arita, to make any reference to Japan’s dependence upon this country for materials or to the effect that the Japanese action to which you refer might possibly have upon the commercial relations between Japan and the United States. No objection is perceived by the Department, however, to your pointing out to Arita that it is your opinion that any action on the part of the Government of Japan to force the withdrawal of armed forces of France and Great Britain in China from that country, would be interpreted in the United States as a direct step toward the elimination of Western influence from China; and that in the United States the consequent reaction as regards Japanese-American relations would certainly be seriously prejudicial.