•
the sincerity
of these regrets and represented strongly
to Mr.Tani the bad effect which the Japanese action had had
not only on Franco-Japanese relations, but on world opinion.
He drew attention to the fact that in the United States this
incident would have much the same effect as the original
bombing of Canton, and it would also convince world opinion
that the Japanese Government were unable to secure the
obedience of the military authorities to their orders. Mr.
Tani knew that no arms and war material were going
over this railway and that in fact the bulk of the arms
reaching the Chinese Government came either from Germany
or the Soviet Union.
4.
Mr.Tani said that it was important for the Japanesc
Government to prevent not only arms but certain other goods,
such as lorries and petrol, from reaching the Chinese
Government. He suggested that the French Government
should approach this problem in the spirit of realism which
had brought about the solution of the Asama Maru incident.
5. Mr.Tani then went on to suggest that the French
Government should recognise that a state of war existed
in China, asserting that His Majesty's Government had
already done so as regards North China. The Allies were
now exercising a strict contraband control against their
enemy and the Japanese asked no more of the French
Government than that they should prevent certain specified
goods from reaching Japan's enemy. He fully realised the
embarrassment which the League of Nations resolutions
might cause to the French Government in coming to some
arrangement with the Japanese Government over this question,
and suggested therefore that it would be sufficient if
the French Government refrained from repairing the railway.
Mr.Tani then said that extremely easy terms were being
granted/
35