[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government, and should be
returned to the Foreign Office if not required for official use.]
1/1
From:
JAPAN,
Decypher.
Sir R. Craigie, (Tokyo).
January 13th, 1939.
D.
11.35. p.m. January 13th, 1939.
R.
6.15. p.m. January 13th, 1939.
No. 42.
My telegram No. 31.
12) Canton telegram No. 2 to me indicates that there is no longer any great difference between position existing at Canton and that at other occupied ports and in the circumstances I think it would serve no useful purpose to press my United States colleague to seek revised instructions from his Government. In the circumstances we both think the best course would be that on the first suitable occasion we should inform the Ministry of Foreign Affairs orally that for reasons fully given in the past we are quite unable to accept the thesis put forward in Japanese Note of December 16th and that the absence of official reply does not imply the slightest change in our Governments' representations on this question.
\.e would leave record of our communication.
My United States colleague is enquiring the reason for State Department's disinclination to refer to international status and terms of our communication will be influenced by State Department's reply.
My French colleague will confora with his action to ours and we are all three of opinion identity of action is more important than the form the action takes.
Addressed to Foreign office No. 42 January 13th; repeated to Shanghai No. 33.