740.0011 Pacific War/458
Memorandum by Mr. John P. Davies, Jr., of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs49
The Counselor of the Chinese Embassy attempted to telephone Mr. Atcheson50 this morning and as Mr. Atcheson was temporarily absent from the room I answered the telephone. Mr. Liu asked if we had any information with regard to reports that Japan and France had come to an agreement over Indochina. I replied that I was uninformed on this score.
[Page 339]In a telephone conversation this afternoon with the First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy on a routine matter, Mr. Tsui repeated substantially the same question asked by Mr. Liu. My reply was the same as given to Mr. Liu. After some hesitation and speaking in Chinese, Mr. Tsui said that the Embassy was very much concerned over these reports. He said that the Central Government felt that … Lung Yun (Chairman of Yunnan Province) … might be expected to be subjected to great Japanese pressure.…
The foregoing situation would seem to be an additional reason for the taking of strong action in the event of the Japanese occupation of the French colony.