Regarding the unfortunate incident occurring on the Yangtze River about 26 miles above Nanking on December 12th, in which Japanese naval aircraft attacked by mistake the U.S.S. Panay and three merchant ships belonging to the Standard Oil Company of America, causing them to sink or burn with the result that casualties were caused among those on board, I had the honour to send to Your Excellency my Note dated December 14th. Almost simultaneously, however, I received Your Excellency's Note which was sent by the Government of the United States, and which, after describing the circumstances prior to the occurrence of the incident, concludes that the acts of the Japanese forces in the attack were carried out in complete disregard of the rights of the United States, taking American life and destroying American property, both public and private; and which states that, "in these circumstances, the Government of the United States requests and expects of the Japanese Government a formally recorded expression of regret, and an undertaking to make complete and comprehensive indemnifications, and an assurance that definite and specific steps have been taken which will ensure that hereafter American nationals, interests, and property in China will not be subjected to attack by Japanese armed forces or unlawful interference by any Japanese authorities or forces whatsoever."
As regards the circumstances surrounding the present unfortunate incident, I desire to state that while Your Excellency's Note concludes that the incident resulted from a disregard of American rights by Japanese armed forces, it was actually due entirely to a mistake, as has been described in my Note of December 14th. As a result of the thorough investigations which have been conducted in all possible ways since then to ascertain the real causes, it has now been fully established that the attack was entirely unintentional. I trust that this has been made quite clear to Your Excellency through the detailed explanations made to Your Excellency on the 23rd instant by our naval and military authorities.
With reference to the first two items of the requests mentioned in Your Excellency's Note, namely, a recorded expression of regret and indemnifications, no word needs to be added to what I have said
in my aforementioned Note. As regards the guarantee for the future, I wish to inform Your Excellency that the Japanese Navy issued without delay strict orders to "exercise the greatest caution in every area where warships and other vessels of America or any other third Power are present, in order to avoid a recurrence of a similar mistake, even at the sacrifice of a strategic advantage in attacking the Chinese troops." Furthermore, rigid orders have been issued to the military, naval, and foreign office authorities to pay, in the light of the present untoward incident, greater attention than hitherto to observance of the instructions that have been repeatedly given against infringement of, or unwarranted interference with, the rights and interests of the United States and other third Powers. Simultaneously, the Japanese Government is studying carefully every possible means of achieving more effectively the above-stated aims, while it has already taken steps to ascertain, in still closer contact with American authorities in China, the locations of American interests and nationals, and to improve the means of communicating intelligence thereof speedily and effectively to the authorities on the spot.
Although the attack on the man-of-war and other vessels of the United States was due to a mistake as has been stated, the Commander of the Flying Force concerned was immediately removed from his post, and recalled, on the grounds of failure to take the fullest measures of precaution. Moreover, the staff members of the fleet and the commander of the flying squadron and all others responsible have been duly dealt with according to law. The Japanese Government is thus endeavouring to preclude absolutely all possibility of the recurrence of incidents of a similar character. It may be emphasized that, of all the above-mentioned measures taken by the Japanese Government, the recall of the Commander of the Flying Force has special significance. It is my fervent hope that the Government of the United States will fully appreciate the fact that this drastic step has been taken solely because of the sincere desire of the Japanese Government to safeguard the rights and interests of the United States and other third Powers.