Evening star., 1932-01-08
|STMSON IS FIRM
IN NOTE TO JAPAN
Tells Toxic Traditional "0pen
Door" Policy Must
Prevail in China. E
(continued From First Page.)

4
| the Covenants and obligations OF the
| Dact of Paris of August 81, 1928, to
which treaty both China and Japan, as
well as the United States, are parties.
This note has been communicated by
| the American diplomatic representa-
tiyes at Toxic and Marking and to
| the representatives at washington OF
| the nations which have signed the
| nine-power pact.
The American diplomatic note is nrsC
and above all document IN Whlcn tne
American Government is coming OUT 10
! defend the inalienable rights OF Amer
| ican citizens in the Far East. 1t does
not give the Japanese government a
| chance to dicker as to whether or not
| ths nine-power pact has been violated.
| It does not enter into the complicated
argument as to whether the puppet gov
| ernment the japanese intend to estab-
| lish in Manchuria will or will not have
| the right to upset agreements and
rights previously granted to American
| citizens. 1t is based on thorough
| study of the new situation In Man
churia, where recently American banks
have been closed by the japanese au-
| thorities, where certain public utility
concessions given by the former Man
churian administration have been can
celed and American interests have been
| in many ways injured.
Inaugurated In 1899.
The position of the American Gov
ernment has been clearly expressed by
| the State Department when 1t was
1! stated that 1--WE have no desire to ques-
ton the legitimate japanese treaty
| rights in Manchuria; nor do we want to
| intervene in the unfortunate dispute be-
| tween China and Japan. But we want
any future settlement to respect our
| treaty rights and not to violate the pro-
visions of the Paris pact"
In view of the fact that our economic
| interests in the Far East mainly in
| China, have grown in Importance in
| the last decade, it is a matter of self
protection to keep the principle Of the
| open door policy intact.
This policy, whic hthe Secretary of
State feels in duty bound to uphold,
| was inaugurated by John Hay In 1899.
After the Sino-Japanese War in 1895
the Japanese obtained from the de-
feated Chinese government the conces-
sion of Port Arthur and the adjacent
territory. The European powers took
advantage of the situation to begin a
policy of taking from China whatever
was obtainable. First of all, Russia
managed to cancel the Sino-Japanese
agreement and take Port Arthur for
herself, the French occupied Kwan
Chow Man, the British leased" Wei
Hal Wei, the Germans grabbed Isingtao.
Americas interests III the Far East
seemed seriously imperiled when the
then Secretary of State John Hay made
the famous open-door policy announce
ment which, next to the Monroe Doc
trine, has been one of the mainstays of
Ava fnrnipr1 YNp1ipu Tho nthar
powers adhered to the principle of the
open-door policy, and by United States
intervention not only has the Govern
ment managed to save the economic
! interest of the United States in the most
| important part of the Far East, but also
contributed to the preservation of
China as a national and geographical
unit.
Strong Note Sent In 1915.
Everything seemed serene until 1915,
The international situation was then as
| troubled as 1t is today. Taking adyan-
tage of the fact that the leading world
powers-minus Anerica-were at that
time either the open allies or the open
enemies of Japan and that China had
remained a neutral Japan endeavored
to revive her policy OF obtaining a per-
manent foothold in China and occupied
the former German concession OF Shan
| tung. Japan issued an ultimatum to
China and endeavored to obtain by
force certain rights and privileges in that
province. The American Government,
Watchful Of the interests OF this country
in the Far East, sent in May, 1915, a
strong note to the Chinese and the Japa-
nese governments warning them that
"it cannot recognize any agreement or
undertaking which has been entered
into between the governments OF China
and japan impairing the treaty rights
of the United States and its citizens in
China, the territorial integrity OF the
Republic of China or the international
policy relative to China commonly
known as the open-door policy"
Only six years later, IN 1921, during
the naval conference held in Washing
ton, did the Japanese government decide
to withdraw it's troops from Shantung.
But during all this time our point OF
view had never Wavered, and in spite
of the various bats offered us We re-
fused to recognize the legality of the
presence of the japanese troops In that
Chinese province. This precedent Is ex-
tremely useful because it shows clearly
that whatever may happen in Man
churia, and whatever the attitude of
the other interested powers may be in
regard to Manchur1a, the American
Government will never consent to any
open or disguised occupation OF any
slice of the Chinese territory where our
interests are involved.
Important Reaction Forecast.
The Stimson note will have a very
Important reaction both in Japan and
in China: but while it may take some
time before we may see its effects on
Japan, the effects on China will be
immediate.
In the last three or four weeks the
yapanese government realized that
satisfactory solution of the Manchurian
question can be achieved only by OBJ
tanning Chinas consent to Japan haV-
ing control over that territory. For
that reason Toxic and Marking have
been negotiating, the Marking govern
ment being more or less lukeWarm TO
the Japanese approaches. The Japanese
government has been endeaVor1ng to
exnlain to the Chinese that With Europe
in a. turmoil, and with America en-
crossed in her own problems, emma
cannot expect any real assistance irollI
those quarters and that the peSt Cnlng
to do would be to bury the hatcheC anu
accept the inevitable. Ihe actlon oL etie
Teap1le of Nations and the apparently
indifferent attitude of the United STATES
toward the Manchurian problem seemed
to confirm the japanese statements 10
the Nanking government. x,,ob |
The Chinese public opinion as mucl
as one can talk about such q tnlng, re-
ceived a terrific shock. emma mas 'iau
tional friend, the United states, ap-
peared to be either powerlesS or ilan-
ferent. The United States hao Iaken
action together with the League and
were talking about moral forces which t,
were going to expel the japanese from
Manchuria. The Chinese, idealists as
they are, have about the same gaafh eonno |
dence in the League as Senator bordh
~. yJ,ra,,, johnson They we're ap-