THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
64
FAR EASTERN (JAPAN).
August 28, 1939.
SECTION 2.
Copy No.
136
CONFIDENTIAL.
[F 9601/176/23]
Viscount Halifax to Sir R. Craigie (Tokyo).
(No. 710.) Sir,
Foreign Office, August 28, 1939. THE Japanese Ambassador saw me this afternoon at his own suggestion. I opened the conversation by asking him whether he could give me any news of the new Government in Japan. He said that he had great confidence in the new Prime Minister, General Abe. General Abe had been on the reserve list for two years since the period of his command during the Tokyo disturbances of two years ago. He was a man who would serve as a valuable intermediary between the army and the politicians.
2. I informed the Ambassador that I had been much entertained by a report which our Ambassador in Berlin had brought home with him to the effect that Herr Hitler had been furious at the action of the Japanese in protesting against the new German-Soviet Pact. The Ambassador laughed, and said there was a strong feeling against the pact in his country. This new fact must have considerable bearing on the attitude of the new Japanese Government, and the Ambassador agreed that the double-crossing of Japan by Germany and of ourselves by Russia must cause both the Japanese and British Governments to reconsider the positions in which they found themselves, and to consider a possible improvement in their mutual relations.
3. I asked the Ambassador who was likely to be the new Foreign Minister. He replied that the Domei Agency had suggested his own name. He would have to consider whether it was worth while his accepting this office and, before he did so, he would like to talk further with me. But he said there was no certainty. he would be offered the post. He felt sure that the new Foreign Minister in Japan would have to consider his country's attitude towards Great Britain on broad general lines, and the wider the considerations of policy which were exchanged between the two Governments, the easier it would be to deal with the details and improve the atmosphere. He himself would meanwhile not go into detail about the Tientsin discussions.
4. I said there was one matter which I must again bring specifically and emphatically to the attention of the Japanese Government, and that was the continued detention of Colonel Spear. I read to the Ambassador certain extracts from Peking telegram No. 187 on the subject of the bad conditions under which Colonel Spear was being detained, and I informed the Ambassador that the medical reports we had received about Colonel Spear showed that he might be in immediate danger of a nervous breakdown. The Ambassador said that he fully understood the position and had been impressed by the interest taken in this matter in Parliament, and was doing his best. I said that perhaps the new Prime Minister, being a soldier, might interest himself in the case.
5. During the course of the interview I gave Mr. Shigemitsu a general account of the proposals sent to us by the German Chancellor, and of the nature of our reply. The Ambassador thanked me, and said he trusted we would emerge from this present serious situation. He knew German mentality, as he had been in Germany in 1914, and he knew what bad psychologists they were, and what terrible mistakes they were likely to make. He had come to England on the outbreak of war in 1914, and he would like to say that he thought the spirit of our people to-day, and, further, the extent of our preparations, were a year ahead in comparison to what they were in 1914.
6. The Ambassador suggested that he should have a further talk on more detailed questions with Mr. Butler, and a report of his conversation will follow later.
[683 ee-2]
I am, &c.
HALIFAX.