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DRAFT
57
COPY.
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My dear Mr. Minister:
On May 27, 1940, I addressed to Your Excellency's
predecessor a note in which I pointed out that the
American Government views with great concern the possi-
bility that there might be established in the future
a new bank of issue in China by the Japanese-sponsored
Chinese authorities at Nanking. My Government at that
time instructed me to bring to the attention of the
then Minister for Foreign Affairs the fact that such
action, if taken by the authorities in that part of
China under Japanese occupation, would have the most
unfavorable effect upon international trade with those
areas and would not be in keeping with the assurances
which the Japanese Government had on frequent occasions
given to the American Government. In conclusion my
note stated that not to keep faith with those assur-
ances would moreover undesirably affect American-
Japanese relations. I felt confident, therefore, that
it was not the intention of the Japanese authorities
in China or of the Japanese Government to allow such
further serious disturbance in the international trade
of China and interference with foreign enterprise in
/that
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