Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Documents Relating to New Zealand's Participation in the Second World War 1939–45: Volume III

13 — The Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs to the Governor-General of New Zealand

13
The Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs to the Governor-General of New Zealand

3 September 1940

Circular telegram. Following for Prime Minister:

1. Thailand. Anglo-Thai non-aggression pact was ratified on 31 August.

2. Japan. There appears to be a danger of the broad issues involved in the Burma Road question becoming obscured by a Japanese manoeuvre to make it appear that we have not fully carried out our undertakings. In order to clear the way for us to drop the agreement if after the three-months' period we should wish to do so, His Majesty's Ambassador at Tokyo has been instructed, as opportunity offers, to develop the following general line with the Japanese Government:

(1)

The spirit of the agreement is to forbid the transit of certain articles but to place no obstacle in the way of traffic in non-prohibited goods.

page 23
(2)

The agreement is temporary and does not therefore justify measures designed to forbid the accumulation of goods in Burma.

(3)

The Japanese are trying to expand the agreement in various ways incompatible with its general spirit and in particular with (1) and (2) above.

(4)

What are the Japanese doing for their part to fulfil their side of the bargain, i.e., special effort to reach a general settlement in the Far East?