Please give the following message to the Prime Minister [1] for
his most secret and personal information.

Following quotation from message received from Prime Minister [2]
reporting his talks with President Roosevelt about Japan:-

QUOTATION BEGINS.

Position about Japan is as follows.

President proposed to Japan some time ago the neutralization of
Indo-China and Thailand under joint guarantee of the United
States, Japan, Britain, China, and others. Japanese reply, which
will -be cabled to you fully as soon as more urgent messages have
been dealt with, agrees to principle of no encroachment upon Siam
and military withdrawal from Indo-China but adds a number of
conditions fundamentally unacceptable. [3]

For instance withdrawal to take place after China incident is
settled, meaning thereby after Chiang Kai-shek [4] is strangled,
and further requiring the recognition of Japan's preponderant
position in these regions; also requiring the United States to
abstain from all further military preparations in these regions
and reasonable lifting of economic sanctions.

The President's idea is to negotiate about the unacceptable
conditions and thus procure a moratorium of say 30 days in which
we may improve our position in Singapore area and Japanese will
have to stand still. But he will make it a condition that the
Japanese meanwhile encroach no further and do not use Indo-China
as a base for an attack in China. He will also maintain in full
force economic measures directed against Japan. These negotiations
show little chance of succeeding but the President considers that
a month gained will be valuable. I pointed out, of course, that
Japan would double-cross him and would try to attack China or cut
Burma communications. However you may take it that they consider
it right [regardless] [5] to begin negotiations on these lines and
in view of what has passed between the United States and Japan it
will be necessary to accept this fact.

In the course of these negotiations the President would renew his
proposals for the neutralization of Siam as well as Indo-China.

At the end of the note which the President will hand to the
Japanese Ambassador [6] when he returns from his cruise in about a
week's time he will add the following passage which is taken from
my draft. Any further encroachment by Japan in the South-West
Pacific would produce situation in which the United States
Government would be compelled to take counter measures, even
though these might lead to war between the United States and
Japan. He would also add something to the effect that it was
obvious, the Soviet being a friendly power, that the United States
Government would be similarly interested in any similar conflict
in the North-West Pacific. QUOTATIONS ENDS.

We feel sure that you will agree with us in thinking that the
course outlined marks a great advance on the line which we have
long wanted to see towards arresting Japanese aggression by united
force. ENDS.