CO129-579-12 Sino-Japanese War- bombing of railway line within leased territories (Shamchun Incident) 21-2-1939 - 17-3-1939 — Page 58

Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government, and should be returned

to the Foreign Office if not required for official use.]

From JAPAN,

Decode.

Sir R. Craigie (Tokyo),

25th February, 1939.

D.

11.10 p.m.

25th February, 1939,

R.

5.15 p.m.

25th February, 1939.

No. 186.

(R).

IMPORTANT.

C

58

14/

24/

My telegram No. 185.

Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs asked me to call this

evening and handed to me a note, for text of which please see my

immediately following telegram. This is in substitution for note

quoted in my telegram No. 173 original of which I returned to

His Excellency.

You will see that the new note contains assurances C. and D.

referred to in your telegram No. 95, but not that relating to the

forty-eight hours notice of intended operations. On this point

the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs stated some doubt existed

because according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs records, notice

originally offered by local authorities was only twenty-four hours.

He felt sure however that British and Japanese local authorities

would have no difficulty in reaching satisfactory understanding

on this point.

I expressed the hope that once such an understanding had been

reached it would be recorded in the form of a semi-official

communication to myself, should Your Lordship consider this

desirable.

I then handed to the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs

note of which text is given in my telegram No. 188.

AS