Thai negotiators sign truncated military agreement with the British
8 September 1945. Siam’s representatives sign a four-point military agreement with the British at SEAC headquarters in Kandy, Ceylon. Even though Thai Regent Pridi Phanomyong had deemed it expedient to accept the more extensive British demands presented on 4 September, pressure from Washington via London forced Lord Louis Mountbatten to reduce the proposal to purely military matters.
Vietnam plans for a national legislature
8 September 1945. Within days of its establishment, the DRV provisional government agrees on procedures to establish a 300-member National People’s Assembly. All Vietnamese citizens 18 years of age or older – men and women alike – will have the right to vote and stand for election, with the exception of individuals stripped of their citizenship rights or persons not of sound mind. One committee will formulate regulations for the first national election while another will draft a constitution for submission to the assembly.
American forces arrive in Korea
8 September 1945. Finally, after completion of initial U.S. troop movements to Japan and China, troops of the U.S. Army Forces in Korea land at Incheon. Their commander, Lt.-Gen. John Hodge, is faced with a delegation from the Committee for the Preparation for Korean Independence. Poorly briefed, not expecting the reception and having been specifically warned not to recognize any group claiming to represent the Koreans, Hodge declines to meet the delegation.