[Secret]
From: Tokyo
To: Washington
19 November 1941
(Purple-CA)
#799 (In 2 parts, complete)
In
the proposal for a joint declaration by Japan and the United States, given in
your #1096*, there are many points to which it would be difficult for the
Imperial Government to give consent, as I have already cabled you. Secretary
Hull's advocacy of a reciprocal trade agreement stated in the same dispatch, we
can consent to as something he has advocated for many years, but we imagine it
would have as many as possible of the opinions of the State Department's China
specialists woven into it. Therefore, if we were to go into a discussion of
each of these particulars, we would have to give up hopes of the possibility of
reaching a settlement in a short time, (see my #736**). Now that matters have
progressed this far, we think the only way to reach a full solution is to
conclude an agreement now on a few absolutely essential items in order to
prevent matters from going from bad to worse by long-view political
adjustments, thus first of all avoiding the danger of an outbreak of war.
(Part 2)
Therefore
you will please delete from my #780***, paragraph 6 (nondiscrimination in
trade) and paragraph 7 (the Tripartite Agreement) and add my #801**** as item 2
of paragraph 5, and hand this to Secretary Hull. This will "drop" the
question of non-discrimination in international trade which has heretofore been
an important pending problem between the two countries, and in view of the
United States attitude regarding troops stationed in China, this will be made
the subject of conversations between Japan and China, in an effort to ease up
the present tension. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ item 2: the transfer of troops from
southern French Indo-China to the northern part, is an important concession we
would venture to make for the sake of speeding the agreement, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
in order to save the situation and with President Roosevelt's immediate (this
should mean within one week) approval, have it ready for signatures of both
countries.
Furthermore
if they insist, it will be all right to agree to the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of 6 and 7
(non-discrimination in trade and _ _ _ _ _ Tripartite Treaty) of my #780***,
but because of the reasons stated in your #1129*****, in regard to our attitude
to these two questions, we cannot change my #784******. (As Hull at present
does not seem to be taking so much account of matters in China, I think he (or
we) will not insist on deleting from "on the understanding" on.
In
regard to paragraph 7 (the Tripartite Treaty) see the latter part of my
#800*******.
25035
JD-1: 6659 (F) Navy Trans. 11-20-41 (S-TT)
*JD-1: 6585 (S.I.S. #24931 and 25006).
**JD-1: 6254 (S.I.S. #24373).
***JD-1: 6555 (S.I.S. #24872).
****JD-1: 6661 (S.I.S. #25037).
*****Not available.
******JD-1: 6561 (S.I.S. #24880).
*******JD-1: 6660 (S.I.S. #25036).
(EXHIBITS OF JOINT COMMITTEE , EXHIBIT NO. 1 INTERCEPTED DIPLOMATIC MESSAGES SENT BY THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT BETWEEN JULY l AND DECEMBER 8, 1941)