Cablegram 61 WASHINGTON, 17 April 1940, 8.33 p.m.
IMMEDIATE
Think you may expect in tomorrow’s press what I believe will be important statement by the Secretary of State [1] following Japanese published statements regarding Netherlands East Indies.
It is possible that this may express the fact that the United States would not be indifferent to any attempt to foreign protectorate [2] over Netherlands East Indies. Some think statement will not be in such specific and pointed terms but will be confined to repudiation by the United States Government of basis of Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs’ [3] claims regarding Japan’s concern in status quo in Netherlands East Indies.
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1 Cordell Hull. The relevant portion of his statement is quoted in Document 163.
2 The Washington file copy read ‘any attempted foreign protectorate’ (See AA: A3300, 16).
3 Hachiro Arita.
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[AA: A981, NETHERLANDS 33]