Office of the Historian

762.94/79: Telegram

The Ambassador in Italy (Phillips) to the Secretary of State

Rome, November 16, 1936—4 p.m.
[Received November 16—1:35 p.m.]

465. With reference to the possible alignment of Japan with Germany and Italy (Tokyo’s telegram No. 232, November 13, 5 p.m.60 and my 446, November 6, 6 p.m.61) the Soviet Ambassador here told me he had heard from his Government that Italy had approached Japan with a project of recognition of Manchukuo in exchange for recognition by Japan for Ethiopia but had been unable to obtain confirmation thereof. In this connection he referred to the Gayda article (my telegram #432, October 26, noon61) in which a relation of Manchukuo and Italy’s Ethiopian problem was intimated. He also said that certain of the Paris press had published indications that the Italian Government was acting in this sense.

In the course of a later conversation with the Under Secretary for [of] State and [for] Foreign Affairs I asked him whether there was any truth in this rumor and he explained that some months ago the Japanese Ambassador had approached him for the purpose of securing the permission of the Italian Government to install a Consul at Addis Ababa. The Ambassador was told that this could be arranged provided the Japanese Government would follow the usual course of asking for an exequatur whereupon the Ambassador had said that he was not in a position to make this request. Bastianini had then suggested that a member of the Japanese Embassy staff could be sent from Rome without the necessity of requesting an exequatur but nothing further had been heard from the Japanese on this subject. [Page 379] Since that time the Italian Government had been obliged to change its Consul in Manchukuo but that in sending out the new man no steps have been taken to change his status as regards the Manchukuo authorities.

Bastianini then said that this situation remained unchanged “at present” and thought possibly that the Paris press reports to which I had alluded were in the nature of a trial balloon.

Phillips
  1. Vol. i, p. 391.↩
  2. Not printed.↩
  3. Not printed.↩