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JAT NESE SURRENDER
C.0.S.(45) 536 (0)
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THE COMMITTEE considered a Note by the Secretary covering a telegram from the President to the Prime Minister, containing the text of General Order No. 1, which had been issued by the President to General of the Army MacArthur, covering details of the surrender of the Japanese Armed Forces; and of a letter from the Foreign Office, asking the Chiefs of Staff to consider the method by which it should be communicated to the Japanese in Hong Kong that they should surrender to a British force.
SIR CHARLES PORTAL said that the telegram from the President stipulated in para 1A that all Japanese ground, sea, air and auxiliary forces within China should surrender to the Generalissimo, and presumably this might be taken to include Hong Kong, and other ports on the Chinese coast. On the other hand, we had ordered Admiral Fraser to proceed to Hong Kong in order to accept Japanese surrender. He suggested that the most appropriate approach in these circumstances would be to tell both the Americans and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek that we did not regard Hong Kong as being within China. We did agree, however, that, for the purposes of surrender, Hong Kong was in the Chinese theatre and we suggested that a British officer should take the surrender of Hong Kong acting as Chiang Kai-shek's representative in doing so.
SIR ALAN BROOKE said that he thought this would weaken our position in any subsequent negotiations which might take place. He suggested that the first step would be to reply to the President's telegram that we were in general agreement with the Order he had made to General MacArthur with the exception of Hong Kong. He thought that it would be best to go on record now explaining to the President that we had already informed the Combined Chiefs of Staff and the Chinese Government that a British Naval Force was on its way to release Hong Kong from Japanese occupation and to bring aid to prisoners and internees situated in the Colony, and to restore British administration. He suggested that we should at the outset ask for the President to instruct the Allied Supreme Commander to order the Japanese High Command to ensure that the Japanese local commanders in the Colony of Hong Kong should surrender to the Commander of the British Naval Force on arrival. He circulated a draft telegram from the Prime Minister to the President on these lines.
In discussion it was agreed that a further paragraph should be inserted in the draft telegram pointing out that the President's General Order still recognised boundaries affecting Indo-China which the end of the war had rendered obsolete.
It was our intention to introduce French forces into Indo-China as quickly as possible in order to take over the occupational and administrative duties of the country. The position would therefore be that S.E.A.C. should take the surrender of the Japanese at Saigon, introducing the French forces as and when they became available. It was agreed that any further details that might arise from the President's telegram should be the subject of an examination and report by the Joint Planning Staff.
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C.O.S. 1106/5 T.39/45
. C.O.S.(45) 536 (0)
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