THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVernment
(
FAR EASTERN (JAPAN).
CONFIDENTIAL.
June 1, 1939.
SECTION 2.
119
[F 5201/874/23]
Sir R. Craigie to Viscount Halifax.—(Received June 1.)
Copy No.
130
(No. 285.)
HIS Majesty's representative at Tokyo presents his compliments to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and, with reference to Tokyo despatch to Foreign Office No. 210 of the 21st March, has the honour to transmit to him a copy of Political Diary No. 3 for the month of March 1939.
Tokyo, April 19, 1939.
Enclosure.
Political Diary No. 3 of 1939, March 1 to 31.
(This diary is a brief and informal review of current topics. Although it is largely based on extracts from the Japanese press and is not in the nature of a considered report, the diary should be treated as confidential and should not be publicly quoted or reproduced.)
General.
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS.
70. The month of March was distinguished by a number of rumours of impending developments of first-class importance which by the end of the month failed to materialise. The first of these was the fishery scare; admittedly there was little belief that a failure to resolve the dispute would result in immediate Russo-Japanese hostilities, but resolute speeches in the Diet, coupled with troop movements on the railways, led to a certain feeling of heightened nervousness. The passage of the Ides of March without incident caused a relaxation in the tension, and political gossip, as far as foreign affairs is concerned, turned to another important question, the possible strengthening of the Anti-Comintern Pact. The announcement of some positive step by the Japanese Government was expected in many quarters to be made before the end of the month, but, in spite of much coming and going between the German and Italian Embassies and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, nothing had transpired by the 31st March.
British Empire.
71. Singapore. On the 1st March the Japanese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs handed to His Majesty's Ambassador two protests regarding the proceedings of the Straits Settlements authorities against Japanese subjects. The first concerned raids made by the police on certain premises on the 18th January, while the second raised objections to the action of the authorities in requiring on two occasions attendance by holders of diplomatic passports at police stations in the colony. Similar representations had already been made on the 28th January by the Japanese Ambassador in London.
72. A note was addressed to the Japanese Ambassador in London on the 18th March, in which Mr. Shigemitsu was informed that the raids had been carried out in accordance with the law, and that the result of the measures taken left no doubt that an intention existed on the part of certain Japanese to engage in activities calculated to cause a breach of the peace. Comparison was invited between the measures of precaution taken at Singapore and those in force in the Japanese fortified areas, and the hope was expressed that a correct appreciation by Japanese nationals in Singapore of their obligations while resident in British territory would obviate the necessity of similar measures in the future.
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