CO129-497 - Public Offices - 1926 — Page 442

This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]

434

Printed for the Committee of Imperial Defence. November 1926

Copy No.

5

SECRET.

COMMITTEE OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE.

Extract from the Minutes of the 218th Meeting, held on November 25, 1926.

(8.) FOREIGN POLICY IN RELATION TO RUSSIA AND JAPAN. (C.I.D. Paper No. 710-B.)

(Previous reference: C.I.D. Minutes of 215th Meeting, Minute 5 (c).) THE COMMITTEE had under consideration a Memorandum by Sir William Tyrrell in regard to Foreign Policy in relation to Russia and Japan (C.I.D. Paper No. 710-B).

SIR AUSTEN CHAMBERLAIN explained that this Memorandum had been drawn up at the request of the Committee at its 215th Meeting, when considering the general question of Afghanistan. He pointed out that the Paper had been written by the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Foreign Office, and as such represented the official view of the Foreign Office as distinct from the view of the Foreign Secretary. He drew particular attention to the following paragraph on page 2 of Sir William Tyrrell's Memorandum :—

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I therefore fully share the Chancellor of the Exchequer's dislike of an alarmist policy with regard to Japan, and fully endorse Lord Salisbury's recommendation in favour of common action with her against Russian aggression and his regret at the adoption of any policy which did not allow us to look upon her as a friend. I have no hesitation in stating that our policy should be based upon the assumption that Russia is the enemy and not Japan. The most we have to dread from the latter is commercial rivalry,"

and stated that the views there expressed coincided entirely with his own convic- tions. The greatest danger at the present time was that which emanated from Russia, and which took the form of constant anti-British activities wherever opportunities occurred of rousing or increasing anti-British feelings. So much had been said recently about our policy vis-à-vis Japan that he wished to call particular attention to this expression of opinion both on the part of the Foreign Office and of the Foreign Secretary.

THE COMMITTEE OF IMPERIAL DEFENCE took note of the Memorandum by Sir William Tyrrell regarding Foreign Policy in relation to Russia and Japan (C.I.D. Paper No. 710-B), together with the observations of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs as summarised above.

2, Whitehall Gardens, S.W.1,

November 25, 1926.

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