Message from Mr. Bevin to Mr. Acheson
I was very sorry to receive your message delivered by your Chargé d'Affaires here, to the effect that it may not be possible for you to give us your views about a Japanese Peace Treaty before the Commonwealth Ministers Conference assembles in Ceylon on 9th January, 1950. We cannot at this late stage remove the item of Japan from the agenda, while to discuss it without knowing your views will mean on the one hand that we suffer the same disability as we did at Canberra in 1947 and on the other that Commonwealth opinion may harden on certain aspects of the Treaty in a way which may ultimately prove to be at variance with the views of the United States.
While I recognise that the United States are bearing almost the whole burden of the Occupation and are likely to be involved to a greater extent than any other Power in preserving the security of Japan against possible Russian aggression in the future, nevertheless this question of security is one which very much concerns us all. We had hoped to be consulted before United States policy is finally settled, and I should have thought it might assist you in your consideration of the problems before you if we were apprised of their nature.
In the circumstances I do very much hope that you will after all be able to let us know how you are thinking about this problem before the Ceylon Conference meets.