Saturday, 30 August

At 7.30 I went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At 9.30 there was an A.R.A. so I immediately returned to the hostel. The New Estate was bombarded and my car was bombed out of commission. The alarm was over by 3.00 p.m. Hu Shih replied that Benjamin Sumner Welles had tactfully replied to our request for participation at the Moscow Conference, saying its nature was absolutely the same as dispatching [unclear] to China. Also, none of the three countries taking part in the Conference were at war, so the United States did not want China to join.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also agreed to provide the Deputy-Minister, Zeng, with full powers to deal with the law regarding Burmese migrants. The newspapers reported that Nomura Kichisaburō had handed Konoe Fumimaro’s letter to President Roosevelt in person. Cordell Hull talked with Roosevelt for three quarters of an hour, they exchanged opinions with each other on general issues and it was understood that the discussion would continue. The stances of the two countries are so different from each other, I never expected there would be any result. Even if Japan succumbed to the United States, its internal situation would not allow it to do so. If the United States betrayed us, I thought it needed not to do so. So, I reckoned that the talks must end unsuccessfully, and very soon Japan would take the big risk, which would be beneficial to our side. The intelligence section reported that the situation in Hong Kong is quite tense, envoys’ and expatriates’ families have moved to Macao in succession. The Eurasia Aviation Corporation and the Chinese National Aviation Corporation issued circulars on 19 September informing families of staff to evacuate. According to enemy news something bad must happen in Hong Kong in September. If this happens I will feel very worried but I can do nothing. Only fate can determine.