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3. I agree that we do not want to be seen
do not want to be seen to be unsympathetic,
but I think we should be sparing in the information we give to
Sengaku. While we believe that moral resopnsibility lies with
the Japanese Government to make reparations to those who lost
out, legally their obligations have been discharged under the
1951 Treaty. It is highly unlikely that they will volunteer any
compensation and we do not want to be seen to be behind an
opposition ploy in the Diet which embarrassed the government.
The LDP will fiercely oppose any attempts to raise the profile of
the issue. They have had enough trouble on their hands recently
with the Korean comfort girls issue. They received an assurance
from Jiang Zemin during his recent visit that the Chinese would
not bring up the question of war reparations if the Emperor
visited China. This too will increase the sensitivity of such
wartime issues.
I wund suggest you
4. In replying to Sengaku you should start by reiterating the
official position as spelt out in David Warren's letter to Ng.
maht ther You may say that initial research does not suggest that a
concerted effort to quantify the amount of military yen in
circulation was conducted, nor does it seem that the British Government started any registration exercise. You should repeat
that any final decision on reparations is in the hands of the
Japanese Government.
Come of
5. We
We would welcome a report on anything further you manage to unearth on the subjects in the Hong Kong files.
SIGNED H LL DAVIES
YYYY
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