196

Commonwealth Government to Fraser

Cablegram 121 CANBERRA, 15 June 1944

SECRET

Your 89 [1] and D. telegrams 781 [2], 782 [3], 783 [4], Siam.

Text of our reply is being repeated to you. We feel progress of events foreshadows great preponderance of United States influence on Pacific and Asiatic settlement and while anxious to have United States committed in Far East believe some balancing factors necessary. We, therefore, support general line of British declaration. We have introduced reference to China in order to indicate to Chinese our cognisance of their position regarding Thailand and also to hint that omission of reference to China in clauses of Australian - New Zealand Agreement [5] dealing with Indonesia and South-west Pacific does not mean we ignore China’s claim to voice in general Far East settlement.

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1 Dispatched 31 May. On file AA:A989, 44/895/2/2. The N.Z. Govt sought Commonwealth Govt views before responding to the U.K.

Govt’s revised declaration on Thailand.

2 Dispatched 25 May. On the file cited in note 1.

3 Dispatched 26 May. On the file cited in note 1.

4 Document 169.

5 Document 26.

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[AA:A989, 44/895/2/2]