[Secret]
From: Washington.
To: Tokyo.
21 July 1941
(Purple—CA)
#545
At
the request of Acting Secretary of State Welles, Wakasugi called on him on the
21st. (The Ambassador is expected back in Washington tomorrow morning.) Welles
said that he has been giving careful study to recent world conditions. He had
asked Wakasugi to come to his office, he said, so that he could express the
opinions reached by Secretary Hull and himself, in the light of recent world
developments, regarding the unofficial discussions which have been taking place
for the past several months between the Ambassador and Secretary Hull.
After
thus prefacing his remarks, the Undersecretary said that the real objectives,
set up by the Ambassador, Wakasugi, et al., of the Japanese-U. S. conversations,
were identical to those towards which the Secretary was striving.
According
to information received from various sources in various areas, he continued,
there are definite indications that Japan is planning to take some steps very
shortly which would upset the peaceful status of certain areas. If these
reports are based on fact, he said, there would be a conflict between Japanese
acts and the gist of the Ambassador's intentions expressed during the
conversations.
Recently
when the Ambassador met with him, Welles said, Japan's position was discussed.
In the course of those conversations, the Ambassador claimed that Britain, the
United States and other nations were applying the pressure on Japan, and
described this as an "encirclement", of Japan. This expression is
identical to that employed earlier by Germany, he pointed out.
As
a matter of fact, the Undersecretary continued, the above was clearly a
misunderstanding on the part of Japan, because the United
Page
4
States
has no such intentions as those Japan apparently feels. It is because the
United States wishes to maintain peace between the two countries that she has
been continuing the talks.
He
went on by saying that the advices received were to the effect that Japan would
take the southern portion of French Indo-China by force within the next few
days. Such an act would definitely be in violation with the spirit of the
Japanese-U. S. conversations which are being conducted in behalf of maintaining
peace on the Pacific.
That
is the American viewpoint, he said, but would appreciate being advised of the
Japanese viewpoint.
Wakasugi,
therefore, replied that he was well aware of the fact that the Ambassador and
the Secretary were conducting negotiations aimed at improving U. S.-Japanese
relations, and that he, himself, prays that they will succeed. By "a
reliable source of information", Wakasugi asked, did the Undersecretary
mean the U. S. Embassy in Japan? To this, avoiding a clear answer, Welles
merely replied that the report was an accurate one.
Wakasugi
then said that he would relay the information contained in the report referred
to the Ambassador. In the meantime, he said, he would like to make an inquiry,
as one emanating purely from himself and one which in no way should be
considered an official one. Assuming, Wakasugi said, that Japan is planning to
make a move in the manner described by the Undersecretary in some direction
what effect would that have on the U. S.-Japanese discussions which were being
conducted?
Welles
replied that such an act on the part of Japan would be in direct conflict with
the spirit of the discussions. So saying, he implied that further discussion
would be in vain. On the other hand, he continued, he had been lead to
understand that the new Foreign Minister of Japan was a close friend of
Ambassador Nomura. Moreover, in new of the fact that very little time has
elapsed since the new Cabinet was installed, probably it had not decided upon
any definite policy as yet. In view of this fact the United States would
patiently await developments before taking any steps to halt the discussions.
Wakasugi
told Welles that he would report this conversation to the Ambassador in detail,
and withdrew.
20026
JD-1:3937(D) Navy Trans. 7-25-41 (X)
(EXHIBITS OF JOINT COMMITTEE , EXHIBIT NO. 1 INTERCEPTED DIPLOMATIC MESSAGES SENT BY THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT BETWEEN JULY l AND DECEMBER 8, 1941)