The Japanese Government, having replied to the invitation of the Belgian Government to the Conference of the Signatories of the Nine Power Treaty of 1922, takes this opportunity of making public at home and abroad a statement of its views.
I
China has witnessed the rise and fall of countless régimes since the Revolution of 1912, but her foreign policy has been consistently one of anti-foreignism. Especially since 1924, when the Kuomintang set up the Nationalist Government in Canton and entered into alliance with the Communists as a means of winning control of the central administration, an anti-foreign policy began to be pursued with unprecedented vigour and ruthlessness; anti-foreign sentiment was imbued in the minds of the people. The manner in which foreign Powers, one after another, were victimized and deprived of their vested rights and interests is still clearly remembered. An additional, noteworthy fact is that Japan has been made the principal target of this anti-foreign policy of China during the past ten years.
Japan has always striven to promote friendship and cooperation among the nations of East Asia, in the firm conviction that therein lies the key to the stability of that region. Japan welcomed the deepening of Chinese national consciousness which followed upon
the Revolution, believing that it would tend to effect Sino-Japanese collaboration. She adopted the policy of meeting the legitimate national aspirations of China to the utmost possible extent. In 1926, for example, Japan took the lead in assisting China to recover her customs autonomy, and took a firm stand favourable to China on the question of the abolition of extra-territoriality. Thus cultivating China's good-will, Japan looked forward patiently and eagerly to a favourable response that would comport with her ideal of friendship and cooperation. However, China showed no signs of appreciation for this sympathetic attitude on the part of Japan. On the contrary, she raised still higher the banner of anti-Japanism, and seemed resolved to annihilate all Japanese rights and interests in China.
The Nanking Government employed anti-Japanism in domestic politics as a convenient tool for the mobilization of public opinion in support of their régime, and resorted to the unheard-of tactics of making it the foundation of moral education in the army and in the schools, so that even innocent children and youths were taught to look upon their friendly neighbour as an enemy. As a result, not only were the peaceful trade and economic activities of Japan interrupted, but the very lives of Japanese nationals were jeopardized. This anti-Japanese campaign finally took the form of organized terrorism as in the cases of the killing of a Japanese marine at Shanghai in November, 1935, and of the subsequent murderous attacks upon Japanese subjects at Swatow, Chengtu, Pakhoi, Hankow and Shanghai, and the bombing of Japanese residences at Shanghai and Swatow. In the face of the alarming situation the Japanese Government remained calm and forbearing. Urgent requests were repeatedly made to the Nanking Government for the reversal of their disastrous policy, but to no avail.
Then toward the end of 1936 occurred the Sian Incident, in which General Chiang Kai-shek was held captive for some days. Though the exact circumstances surrounding that sensational incident remain a mystery, it is an indisputable fact that shortly after its liquidation communist elements, gaining the ascendency in the Nanking Government, began to conduct campaigns of disturbance in North China and Manchoukuo under the banner of the "Anti-Japanese People's Front." This led directly to the Lukouchiao Incident of July 7th in which Japanese soldiers were fired upon by Chinese troops in the outskirts of Peiping.
II
Upon the occurrence of the Lukouchiao Incident the Japanese Government, desirous of averting a possible Sino-Japanese crisis,
immediately formulated a policy of non-aggravation and local settlement, and devoted its best efforts toward bringing about an amicable solution, despite the intolerable situations that were created, one after another, by the Chinese on the spot. Contrarily, the Nanking Government, in violation of the Umezu-Ho Agreement, moved north the vast forces under its direct command, to threaten the Japanese garrisons; it also instigated local Chinese armies against Japan. The situation was continuously aggravated until a general clash between the two countries became inevitable. It should be recalled that the Nanking Government, which was employing anti-Japanism as an instrument of internal unification, had been conducting militaristic propaganda aimed at Japan for some years, and that at the same time, by importing vast quantities of munitions, constructing fortifications, and giving intensive training to troops, it had succeeded in building up strong armaments, so that Chinese military men grew over-confident of their own strength and the people themselves were deluded into placing an exaggerated estimate upon their country's fighting power. A belligerent spirit toward Japan came to prevail throughout the land.
Long before the present outbreak, Chinese newspapers and magazines were calling Japan the "enemy country" and Japanese their enemies. At the time of the Lukouchiao Incident, with the Nanking Government driven to action against Japan through the internal situation which it alone had created, Japan's cautious attitude and her policy of local settlement were both doomed to utter failure.
With the aggravation of the situation all Japanese residents not only in North China but also in Central and South China became exposed to imminent danger, and were compelled to evacuate en masse, abandoning the enterprises that they had laboriously built up during long years. At the same time the Chinese in Shanghai, in contravention of the 1932 Truce Agreement, secretly began to construct military works in the demilitarized zone and to perfect war preparations. Accordingly, in June of this year the Japanese Government made a request for a special conference of the Powers concerned, and called the attention of the Chinese Government to the matter. The Chinese refused to alter their attitude, but upon the outbreak of the armed conflict in North China, they moved troops into the prohibited zone in flagrant violation of the Truce Agreement, and finally following upon the murder of an officer and man belonging to the Japanese marines on August 9, they launched an attack upon the International Settlement. While the Japanese authorities were still engaged in patient and forbearing negotiations
with the representatives of the Powers concerned, in a desperate attempt to prevent hostilities, at the same time bearing serious strategical disadvantages, the Chinese began to shell and bomb the Japanese quarter of the Settlement as well as the Japanese garrison defending it, with a view to annihilating the 30,000 Japanese residents as well as the Japanese forces who were hopelessly outnumbered by the Chinese armies. Thereupon Japan was compelled to take counter-measures in self-defence.
As is clear from the foregoing account, the fundamental cause of the aggravation of the present affair is to be found in the policy of the Nanking Government which moved large, threatening forces into North China in contravention of the Umezu-Ho Agreement, and also tore up the Truce Agreement by marching troops on the International Settlement in Shanghai. Japan was compelled to take up arms in self-defence; she has chosen this opportunity to make the Nanking Government revise its attitude for the sake of the permanent peace of East Asia. Therefore, the present affair can never be settled until the Nanking Government mends its ways, abandons once and for all time its anti-Japanese policy and accepts Japan's policy of cooperation and collaboration between the two countries.
III
It should be remembered that one of the important factors underlying Nanking's feverish agitations of more recent years against Japan is the action taken by the League of Nations at the time of the Manchurian Incident. That body then adopted a resolution framed in utter disregard of the realities of the situation in East Asia, which strongly stimulated China in her anti-Japanese policy. Now the League has once more taken up the appeal of the Nanking Government. Without going fully into the real causes of the present affair, it has concluded on the basis of false reports that the bombing of the military works in strongly fortified Nanking and Canton was an attack upon defenceless cities, and adopted the resolution of September 27th condemning Japan. Again on October 6th, the General Assembly of the League not only concluded that Japan's action constituted a violation of the Anti-War Pact and the Nine Power Treaty but also adopted a resolution which openly calls for assistance to China. Such proceedings on the part of the League only fall in with the cunning scheme of the Nanking Government to exert pressure upon Japan by inviting the intervention of third Powers, and serve no other end than the useless one of encouraging China in her resolve to oppose Japan to the last and to render a
settlement of the affair more difficult than ever. It must be stated that the League of Nations is repeating the error that it committed but a few years ago.
Japan's action is one of self-defence taken in the face of Chinese challenge; obviously there can be no question of violation of the Nine Power Treaty. Moreover, as compared with the time when that treaty was concluded, the current situation in East Asia has been rendered totally different, due to the infiltration of communist influence and the changes of internal conditions prevailing in China. In any case, as regards the conference that has been convened of the signatories to the Nine Power Treaty, it is a foregone conclusion that a majority of the participants will hold themselves bound by the above-mentioned resolutions of the League of Nations, and even if Japan took part in its deliberations, no fair and just results could be expected therefrom as in the case of the League meeting at the time of the Manchurian Incident. In particular, as this Conference is to be attended by Powers which are not directly interested in East Asia, it is calculated to arouse popular feeling both in Japan and China, thereby complicating the situation still further and contributing nothing toward a solution. The Japanese Government has, therefore, decided to decline the invitation.
The Japanese nation, rising as one man, is united in the determination to surmount all obstacles for the purpose of effecting a speedy settlement. Japan is by no means indifferent towards international cooperation. But the Sino-Japanese difficulties can be solved only through direct negotiations between the two Powers on whom falls the common burden of responsibility for the stability of East Asia. What is needed is the elimination of Nanking's anti-Japanese policy and the communist elements which are identified with it, so that there may be established an enduring peace based upon Sino-Japanese unity and cooperation. Japan does not look upon the Chinese people as her enemy, nor does she harbour any territorial designs. It is rather her sincere wish to witness the material and spiritual advancement of the Chinese nation. And it is her desire to promote cultural and economic cooperation with foreign Powers regarding China, at the same time respecting fully their rights and interests there. Accordingly, as soon as the Powers understand the true intentions of Japan, and take suitable steps to make the Nanking Government reconsider its attitude and policy, then and only then will a way be paved for their cooperation with Japan respecting the settlement of the present conflict.