I have the honour to state to Your Excellency that careful perusal has been made of Your Excellency's Note No. 866, dated January 17th, notifying the occurrence of various cases of infringement of American interests by Japanese forces during their recent military operations in Nanking, Hangchow and other places.
The Japanese Government has steadfastly pursued its policy, as repeatedly declared on various occasions, of respecting as far as possible the rights and interests in China of the United States and other third Powers. In view of the unfortunate incident that occurred last December, it again issued, as Your Excellency knows by my Note of December 24th, strictest orders to the Japanese authorities in China to devote their attention still more closely than before to the matter of those rights and interests. It is, therefore, with most profound regret that, despite these steps taken by it, the Japanese Government received the above-mentioned Note of Your Excellency's. Orders were immediately sent to the Japanese authorities on the spot to conduct thoroughgoing investigations, as a result of which the following circumstances have so far become clear.
In Nanking various cases have been found which are considered as having occurred on account of inadequate control in the city due to the unavoidable insufficiency of forces detailed to the duty of protecting the rights and interests of third Powers as well as to general police purposes, the insufficiency being caused by the frequent movements of the troops in the front lines, the shifting of units, and the work of clearing the city of the remnants of the defeated Chinese forces and of lawless Chinese elements.
The Japanese Government therefore once more dispatched rigorous instructions on the 15th and the 20th of January with the object of making their above-mentioned orders thoroughly understood by all the authorities concerned, and in the meantime they and, in an especial degree, the highest command of the fighting services, have with extraordinary concern been doing their utmost for a satisfactory settlement of the affairs in question, by causing the authorities on the spot to establish the facts in every case as clearly and promptly as possible, and then to deal appropriately with responsible parties
according to military law and to make restitution for damages. As there remain certain points requiring further investigation, the Foreign Office authorities and the Army authorities on the spot are now earnestly endeavouring to establish the facts of each case. As regards compensation for loss and damage, it is the intention of the Government to let such matters be settled as far as possible on the spot, and for this purpose they have been maintaining intimate contact with the American authorities there. I trust that Your Excellency is already aware of these matters.
With respect to Hangchow, the Japanese forces which occupied the city on the 22nd December last year, found their supplies from the rear temporarily cut off and they were obliged to obtain provisions on the spot, which necessarily had to be requisitioned due to the flight of the inhabitants. Prior to their entry into Hangchow, however, the Japanese military authorities had given strict instructions to the commanders of all units regarding the protection of the rights and interests of third Powers, and furthermore, at the time of their entry, they sent gendarmes to post notices on the buildings belonging to the nationals of third Powers, in order to ensure their protection. Nevertheless, in view of the fact that the requisitioning of provisions had to be effected at night, with fighting still in progress, they might have failed to recognize such notices and flags, and furthermore, by reason of the fact that the buildings of the nationals of third Powers were intermingled with those of the Chinese, and that there were no owners to be found in the houses in question, it is possible that some of the requisitioning squads made mistakes in identifying these objects. At the same time, the fact should be noted that there were at the time numerous cases of looting and destruction committed by Chinese rabbles, taking advantage of the prevalent confusion. The difficulty of ascertaining the facts in circumstances such as these will be easily understood.
In the circumstances stated above, if there were cases of Japanese soldiers at Hangchow entering by mistake houses owned by the nationals of third Powers, the purpose of such entry was either the requisition of food or a search for the remnants of Chinese troops, as a necessary measure incident to the conduct of military operations. The military authorities, as the result of a rigid investigation, discovered no evidence to show that any thing whatever other than food-stuffs had been removed from these houses.
A protest is made in Your Excellency's Note on the part of the United States Government on the ground that it had received reports alleging that there had occurred improper acts on the part of Japanese soldiers toward American flags. Deeming it greatly regrettable if,
indeed, there had been such occurrences, the Japanese authorities on the spot, requesting the American authorities in Shanghai and Nanking to submit concrete data on these cases, have been conducting thoroughgoing investigations regarding the matter. With reference to the report that on December 13th, Japanese soldiers at Wuhu pulled down and threw into the Yangtze an American flag from a Chinese boat belonging to the American-owned General Hospital at Wuhu, investigations have been made among the troops which were in that city at the time of the reported incident, as a result of which it has been established that no Japanese soldiers have either been involved in, or aware of, the occurrence of any incident of this sort. Besides, an American connected with the said hospital is reported to have stated that, although he had, in the circumstances then existing, presumed the case to be due to the act of Japanese soldiers, he had by no means actually witnessed the facts, such as the throwing of an American flag into the river. Of these facts, I believe, Your Excellency is aware, since they have already been communicated to the American Consul-General at Shanghai by the Japanese Consul-General. Our authorities have been earnestly conducting further investigations in other places than Wuhu, but so far no evidence has been found. The Japanese Government, with a view especially to bringing home to the minds of all troops the importance of respecting the American national emblem, has ordered that its instructions in that regard be transmitted to every unit in China.
In view of the circumstances stated above, the Japanese Government is studying how it can elaborate effective and adequate measures that can be put in force as soon as possible so as to put a definite stop to any occurrence of similar events. Meanwhile, it has taken, in addition to the various measures already in force, other steps including, (1) the dispatch to the spot of a high officer from Tokyo in order to insure the full execution of the instructions mentioned above, (2) the stationing of special officers at important points in China to take charge of matters relating to the rights and interests of third Powers, and (3) the reinforcement of the military police in China.
I beg Your Excellency to convey to your Government the earnest intention of the Japanese Government as stated above to devote its best efforts toward the prevention of any recurrence of these incidents in future.