893.24/664: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 11—8:35 a.m.]
676. The Counselor of the French Embassy recently informed a member of my staff in confidence that sometime ago the Foreign Office proposed that the French Government permit the stationing in Indo-China of Japanese officials to “control” the traffic toward China with a view to preventing the shipment of arms. This was refused.
A second proposal has just been made by the Foreign Office that an official of the Foreign Office who has been handling Indo-Chinese affairs accompanied by a Japanese military officer be sent on a mission to Hanoi for a few days “to inform the Japanese Consul General concerning the general situation”. The military officer would “assist in explaining the military operations in Kwangsi”. The Foreign Office also suggested that there would be no objection to the French Military Attaché at Tokyo accompanying the mission.
The French Ambassador has referred the matter to Paris but has received no reply.