-7-
 
Washington, I hoped he would communicate any information
 
of real significance to Mr. Phillips so that the Ambas-
 
sador could transmit it in as safe a way as possible to 
 
Washington, to await my arrival there.
 
     The Minister spoke briefly of the Far Eastern situ-
 
ation and said that he wanted to make it clear to me that 
 
recognition by Italy of the Wang Ching-wei government in 
 
China would be undertaken by Italy solely because Italy 
 
believed that the Wang Ching-wei government would be strongly 
 
anti-Soviet, and would complicate relations between Japan 
 
and the Soviet still further. He realized, he said, that 
 
the United States had far greater interests in the Far 
 
East than had Italy, and he understood the complexities of 
 
our problems. I told the Minister that I appreciated his 
 
frankness in giving me this information, but that he would 
 
understand that the rights and interests of the United 
 
States in China were questions of very great importance to 
 
us, and that the United States had adopted a policy towards 
 
Japan which would by no means be termed hasty or impatient. 
 
With regard to the constitution of any Japanese-controlled 
 
regime in China, I said I felt sure that he would under-
 
stand that the United States must pursue its own independent 
 
 
course, and that he knew well what that course was. I re-
 
gretted that, from what he said, Italy seemed to be 
 
embarking on a different course, which, I feared, would not 
 
be inducive to the best interests of all the powers; including 
 
Italy, directly concerned in the Far East.