New-York tribune., 1919-03-13
China Opium Trade
Charges Denied bv
japanese Officials
Foreign Office Says Govern.
ment Has Taken Every
Possible Step TO Curb
importations; Still Active

The Japanese Foreign Office n.
cebled to Cousul-General Yada, in ys.s
York. reply TO the charges mad. ~
The North China Daily News and -,
or foreign language newspapers IN ~.
Far East that Japan surreptitious,v =
officially encouraging the opium trad.
in China.
The text Of the reply follows. IN
part: ~
"Of late denunciafiou agains. -.
Japanese IN connection with dna1. ~
oplu0. cocaine and morphine IN Chr.
has become more and more per,,s.
cnt. some of the critics have gons -.
far AS 10 spread the report that or.
posto'iee and The imperial army ara
protecting Illegal practices In co,ess
tion with drugs j Jheae reports haze
been especially manufactured with ~
other object in ylc,g than T. wreck he
friendly relations between China And
Japan.
Planning 10 Enforce LAWS
"ln connection with the moasuves
against Importation Of opium ln,o
China the imperial government os
Japan is ard has been considering in
" took part IN the Shanghai opium
to MAKE them effective, IS is INDICATED
in the following:
i. The Japanese government has. foy
conference OF 1908. which was the frs,
OF opium smoking among the Chimes
1t took part in the Shanghai Opiun
! Conference Of 1908, which was the frst
! international conference of the tyne
1t was one Of the signatories of tho
international opium treaties drawn m
at that time. The provisions OF the
SAID treaties have not been carried ont
a yet, but rs soon as the other IN
tercsted powers which TOOK part see no
/ objection TO putting ther into practice
our government VIII not hesitate TO
proceed at once to bring the treaty
provisions into practical fruition
-. he imperial government pro
posed to the Chinese government that
it would recognize the general and
complete prohibitory measures against
importation Of opium. morphine and
cocaine into China II the ChSnese goy
ernment would enact regulations and
rules along the line Of the regulatory
rules now in force. Our government
proposed this in 1913, based on the
! principle Of the prohibition Of importa-
tion Of opium into China. The Chinese
government did not make reply OF
any kind whatever.
Indorsed Chinese Proposal
Therefore, in 1918, once again our
government instructed our minister
/ TO G. ina to reopen negotiations on the
/ subject A little later, at the .Shang-
! hai conference on the revision OF the
customs tariff Of China, the Imperial
government readily indorsed .he pro-
posal By the Chinese delegates to make
opium one Of the prohibited articles
Of importation into China and this
without waiting ror the conclusion Of
the negotiation referred 10 above.
3. The Imperial government. al
( together independent Of all he here
tofore mentioned conferences and ne
gotiations has, Of its own initiative,
vigorously forbidden japanese subjects
to have anything whatever to do IN
the dealing and handling Of opium in
emma. 1t has applied to the fu lest
extent the punitive provisions CT the
laws of Japan in connection with
opium, in Furnishing those found guilty
of importing, exchanging, possessing
or smoking it. Also the Imperial Post
Office mas absolutely declined and de
cNnes to accept parcels containing
opium. The Imperial postoffices es-
! tabished in China refuse to accept
parcel containing opium.
q. The imperial government, with
the rest Of the interested powers, rec
/ ognizes and respects the regulations
Of the Chinese government IN con
nection with the importation Of NOR
/ phine, cocaine, etc, which it estab-
lshed in 1903. At the same time our
government issued instructions to our
consulates in China to forbid Japanese
subjects, in the most rigorous manner
to have anything whatever to do IN
importing, receiving, holding, or deal
ing in such articles, and to mete out
proper punishment TO violators.
- The imperial government IS not
even content with Its actions as de-
tailed above. At the Cabinet meeting
of the 18th of January of this year,
in sympathy with the enthusiastic et-
forts of the Chinese government IN
prohibiting opium smoking, the Cab-
net decided TO adopt the policy OF totai,
prohibition Of opium in Tsing-tao and
Chien-tao, and even in Taiwan tto'~