740.00119 Control (Japan)/6–1149
Press Release Issued by the Public Information Office, Far East Command1
GHQ Statement of State Department “Discussions”
The following release was given out by the GHQ spokesman today:
Nothing is known here of discussions for the transfer from the Department of the Army to the Department of State of the primary control of United States Interests in the Occupation of Japan. It is believed that the discussions do not involve change in the present regime of local control in Japan, as such change, unlike the situation existing in the American Zone of Germany where the United States has from the start exercised unilateral control, could only be accomplished through agreement by the eleven nations of the Far Eastern Commission as provided by the international commitments of the United States and the other nations concerned. The SCAP set-up is international in character, the occupation including the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces as well as United States Forces, and other international bodies, and overall policies are primarily fixed by the Far Eastern Commission, a civilian group from the eleven nations, sitting in Washington. The United States could not unilaterally alter this international set-up and it is not believed here that any attempt to do so is contemplated. Apparently what is being discussed is whether American interests will be primarily handled by the State Department in Washington or, as heretofore, by the Department of the Army in Washington, an internal question which rests solely with the United States Government. The SCAP set-up in Japan itself would not necessarily be involved nor would the time or circumstances of a peace conference be directly affected.
- Copy transmitted with Despatch 372, June 11, from Tokyo, received June 17; not printed.↩