HC Deb 07 November 1949 vol 469 cc889-90
53. Mr. Platts-Mills

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what was the nature of the conversations recently held in Tokyo between General MacArthur and the United Kingdom Commissioner-General in South-East Asia.

Mr. Mayhew

Mr. MacDonald's visit to Japan was one of courtesy, and his conversations with General MacArthur were purely an informal exchange of views and information on subjects of common interest.

Mr. Platts-Mills

Was "The Times" correspondent in Tokyo not correct when he expressed the opinion that we are agreeing with General MacArthur the terms of a treaty which will be directly contrary to British interests, and when he asserted that the terms will be that the Americans will have permanent bases and their occupation troops will not even be reduced in number under this so-called peace treaty?

Mr. Mayhew

I am not aware of this "Times" report, but certainly those questions did not arise out of these purely informal conversations.

Mr. Ronald Chamberlain

Can we take it that the principles agreed at Canberra in September, 1947, represent the policy of the Government in this whole matter?

Mr. Mayhew

That is an entirely different question.