asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the difficulty of reaching agreement with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Europe, His Majesty's Government will now take steps to bring about a peace treaty with Japan without Russian co-operation.

I cannot accept the implication in the Question that we should despair of reaching agreement with the Soviet Government on European questions. The future international status of Japan is now under discussion in the Far Eastern Commission on proposals recently submitted by the United States delegate. The measure of agreement or disagreement in the forthcoming debates will doubtless be a guide to His Majesty's Government's future action on this subject.

Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate the very grave danger of leaving the peace treaty with Japan so long open, as the Japanese, so far as one knows, have done nothing in the last few years to prevent the making of a peace treaty with Japan?

I quite admit that there is disagreement between the Great Powers—not so much about getting a peace treaty as about the procedure of how to get it.