[Thi Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government, and should be
returned to the Foreign Office if not required for official use.]
86
(F. 3468/71/23).
Το JAPAN.
Cypher telegram to Sir R. Craigie (Tokyo).
Foreign Office, April 6th 1938.
4.00 p.m.
No.235.
7
Ze
No 79
^
Your telegram No.389 [of March 30th.
relations].
Anglo-Japanese
I regard these advances with considerable suspicion and attribute them in large measure to recognition by the Japanese military of the fact that deterioration of relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, coupled with Japan's growing unpopularity in United States of America calls for a special effort to improve relations with Great Britain (compare concluding paragraphs of your despatch No. 72 [of February 12th]).
I am asking War Office how valuable they regard presence of
language officer in Formosa.
If the suggestion about British railway interests relates to their protection during hostilities, this should be superfluous
If it if the general assurances already given have any value. relates to position after the war it amounts to proposal for division of China into spheres of economic influence and as such is not suitable for discussion now, though in some form it might perhaps be considered as part of the general settlement to be negotiated with Japan when the conversations broken off last summer are taken up again. Real intention of the general
staff is obviously to give us vague promises
experience how worthless such promises are
and we know from
in return for which
we