Cablegram D508 LONDON, 18 May 1946, 6.05 p.m.
TOP SECRET IMPORTANT
United States Government have communicated to the United Kingdom, Soviet and Chinese Governments, for their comments, a draft treaty on the disarmament and demilitarisation of Japan, the text of which is contained in my immediately following telegram. [1] It will be seen that the draft is, mutatis mutandis, almost identical with the draft treaty on the disarmament and demilitarisation of Germany (see my Saving Telegram of 30th April, D.196.) 2. It has been indicated to the United States Authorities informally that, while we welcome proposals in the draft treaty in principle, the matter is one of great and direct concern to other members of the Commonwealth with whom the fullest consultation will be essential before we shall be in a position to offer any further comments. We have emphasised also that other members of the Commonwealth should, in our view, be signatories of a treaty of the kind proposed.
3. We should be grateful for your very early observations on the United States proposal. It should be added that the United States Government have asked that the matter should be dealt with in strictest secrecy.
_
1 Document 253.
_
[AA:A1067, P46/10/61, i]