1. On the 22nd of October, the Japanese Representative in the Council of the League of Nations proposed certain amendments to the Resolution then before the Council with regard to the two questions of (1) the withdrawal of the Japanese troops to the Railway Zone and (2) direct negotiations between China and Japan. However, these suggested amendments as well as the Resolution itself fell through, having failed to obtain the unanimous approval of the Council.
2. As has been repeatedly emphasized by the Japanese Government, the whole Manchurian affair was occasioned solely by the violent and provocative attack launched by the Chinese Army on the Railway Zone. Certain small contingents of Japanese soldiers still remaining at a few points outside that Zone are insistently demanded by the danger to which the large population of Japanese in that region are exposed in life and property. The presence of such a limited number of troops is quite incapable of being represented as a means of dictating to China Japan's terms for the settlement of the present difficulties. Nothing is farther from the thoughts of Japan than to bring armed pressure to bear upon China in the course of these negotiations.
3. The Japanese Government have on various occasions given expression to their firm determination to suffer no abridgment or diminution of the rights and interests of Japan which are vital to her national existence, and which are woven into the complex fabric of her political and economic relations with China. Unfortunately, the so-called "recovery of rights" movements in China have recently attained extravagant developments, while feelings antagonistic to Japan have been openly encouraged in the text books used in various schools in China, and have become deeply seated in the Chinese mind. In defiance of treaties, and regardless of all history, a vigorous agitation has been carried on in China with the object of undermining the rights and interests of Japan, even the most vital. As things stand at present, the complete withdrawal of Japanese troops to the South Manchuria Railway Zone, under the mere assurance of the Chinese Government, would create an intolerable situation, exposing Japanese subjects to the gravest dangers. The risk of such dangers is clearly evidenced by past experience and by the conditions which actually obtain in China.
4. The Japanese Government are persuaded that in the present situation, the safety of Japanese subjects in Manchuria can hardly be ensured without provision being made to remove the national antipathies and suspicions existing in the mutual relations of the two Powers. With this end in view, they have already expressed, in the Note of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of October 9 to the Chinese Minister at Tokyo, their readiness to enter into negotiations with the Chinese Government on certain basic principles that should regulate the normal inter-relationship between the two countries. That Note was communicated at the time to the Council of the League. Convinced that this method of procedure is alone calculated to open out a way to save the situation, the Japanese Government have consistently held to their proposals in that sense throughout the recent discussions at the Council of the League. The basic principles which they have had in mind relate to:
(1) Mutual repudiation of aggressive policy and conduct.
(2) Respect for China's territorial integrity.
(3) Complete suppression of all organized movements interfering with freedom of trade and stirring up international hatred.
(4) Effective protection throughout Manchuria
of all peaceful pursuits undertaken by Japanese subjects.
(5) Respect for the treaty rights of Japan in Manchuria.
The Japanese Government believe that all these points, being in entire accord with the aims and aspirations of the League of Nations and embodying the natural basis upon which peace in the Far East must depend, will commend themselves to the approval of the public opinion of the world. The refusal by the Japanese representative to lay these points on the table of the Council was due to the consideration that they should, in their nature, properly form the subject of negotiations between the parties directly involved.
5. With the future welfare of both nations in mind, the Japanese Government feel that the urgent need at the present moment is to arrive at a solution of the problem by the cooperation of the two countries, and thus to seek the path of common happiness and prosperity. Their willingness remains unaltered and unabated to open negotiations with the Chinese Government on the subject of the basic principles above formulated relating to normal relations between Japan and China, and on the subject of the withdrawal of Japanese troops to the South Manchuria Railway Zone.