the part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to take action, saying he believed that "the United States...would not like to see the conference fail and admit defeat". However, Koo's hopes were dashed by a meeting with William Christian Bullitt Jr., the American ambassador to France, who was a close friend of President Roosevelt. Koo was warned that the United States was unwilling to take a leadership role at the conference and would prefer that Koo not attend to provide "full liberty of discussion". Before departing, Koo told Delbos: "China did not want peace at any price, but only peace with justice". In the meantime, the Japanese had threatened to bomb French Indochina if the French continued to allow arms to be imported into China. On 17 October 1937, Koo was informed that France would continue to allow arms to be sold to China, but none could be taken in via the Indochinese railroad, which in effect cut China off from French arms. In response to vehement criticism from Koo, the French reversed their position and agreed to reopen the railroad, albeit on a "temporary" basis. On 31 October 1937, Koo left Paris for Brussels, and his train took him through a number of battlefields of World War One. Koo later wrote that as he watched from his train the still recovering French countryside that it "led me to reflect that although the youthfulness of the trees and the relative newness of the buildings still told the story of the war, the world had learned little from it. A new war was in the atmosphere everywhere". On November 3, 1937, the conference opened and Koo gave a speech accusing Japan of aggression. Japan was invited to attend the conference, bu the Japanese chose to boycott it instead. Norman Davis, the head of the American delegation, took the viewpoint that it was up to Britain and France to confront Japan and that the United States would only do the barest minimum possible to restrain Japan. Koo who had expected more of the Americans was deeply discouraged. The French were only prepared to act if the United States was willing to take the lead as the French saw Franco-American co-operation in Asia as a way of bringing the United States into European affairs to restrain Germany. The British likewise would only act in Asia if the United States were willing to take the