CO129-451 - Public Offices - 1918 — Page 271

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]

C о

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

7053

[January 1, 1918]

CONFIDENTIAL.

SECTION 1.

REC

REG 8 FEB 18

[358]

No. 1.

Sir C. Greene to Mr. Balfour---(Received January 1, 1918.)

(No. 784. Confidential.) Sir,

Tokyo, November 13, 1917. ABOUT two years ago, when Great Britain was an object of Japanese criticism, frequently of a most unfriendly character, the question of the revision, or even the abrogation, of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was widely ventilated in this country. Since then this topic, thougli occasionally touched on, has sunk into the journalistic background, but the United States-Japan exchange of notes recognising the latter's special interests in China has been the signal for the revival in one or two quarters of the subject of the revision of the Alliance agreement,

An instance is to be found in a paragraph which appeared on the 9th instant in a leading commercial paper, the "Chugwai Shogyo Shimpo," which reads in translation as follows:--

"The revision of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the foundation of Japan's foreign policy, is a question frequently discussed in the past. Not only does the Alliance in question complete its term on the 13th July, 1921, but to-day, as compared with the period of its conclusion, Japan's position in Eastern Asia has undergone inmense changes. The actual situation is that the peace of Eastern Asia is now solely sustained by the effective power of this Empire. At the present juncture, therefore, it is only natural that there should be a necessity for the revision of the Alliance agreement. Lu particular, despite the fact that by the present exchange of diplomatic notes between the Japanese and American Governments Japan's position in China is authenticated in a concrete form, the actual status of Japan is not definitely recognised in a direct manner in the Anglo-Japanese Alliance agreement, which should form the basis of the Empire's diplomacy. Such a circumstance creates an impression of inconsistency with the progressive changes in the general tendencies of the world and with the realities of the East-Asiatic situation. Moreover, it is to be apprehended that misunderstandings between the two countries may be thereby provoked. The view has therefore come to be advocated in influential quarters that revision is now essential. The Government authorities are also of course devoting due consideration to this point. In November 1915, however, Great Britain declared she would not take any political measures in China without consulting Japan, and, again, the British Government are fully alive to the spirit of the present exchange of notes between Japan and America. Moreover, England is to-day labouring single-heartedly to utilise the Alliance. Consequently the view also prevails that the opening of such negotiations at this juncture would be liable rather to give rise to misapprehensions, and that the present moment is thus not opportune. It is a fact that as yet no concrete step is being taken by the Government as such; but under the impulse of the present exchange of notes between Japan and America the question of the revision of the Alliance has come, it is said, to be regarded in various quarters as having marked importance."

On the following day the "Japan Times," a paper having an official connection, published the enclosed paragraph. Using the same materials, it makes in parts identical references to the revision of the Alliance; but it gives more prominence to Sir E. Grey's so-called declaration regarding China of November 1915, which subject merits a word

of comment.

When some time since the American Minister at Peking offered his "advice" to the Chinese Government to compose their differences, treating the war as of secondary importance, the immediate attention paid in Japan to this minor incident and the disproportionate outery, apparently initiated or encouraged by the Japanese Government in the Japanese press, were interpreted by some observers as a manœuvre to elicit from the American Government an undertaking not to approach the Chinese Government on a political issue without consulting Japan, on the lines of the communication made to the Japanese Government by Sir E. Grey in November 1915.

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