An American Diplomat in China

by Paul S. Reinsch

It had been agreed, so the cable from Tokyo had stated, that an announcement of the parley should not be given out until November 7th. But the Japanese minister had already informed the Chinese Foreign Office on Sunday night; and early on Monday its representative called to get my version of the matter.

No word had been sent me. It was inexcusable to fail to give the local representative the earliest possible information, and I intimated as much in my cablegram to the Secretary of State. As the Foreign Office had been fully informed, I could only state to my visitor that I was not authorized to deliver the text until later, and that I was myself still considering the full import of the document, which in certain respects followed lines of policy that had been discussed in the past.

As I could plainly see, the notes had been paraded in the Chinese Foreign Office as yielding important concessions from the United States and as a diplomatic triumph for Japan. I knew nothing of the motives which had animated the President and Secretary of State when they agreed to the paper. I could not explain its purposes; but when my visitor asked: "Does this paper recognize the paramount position of Japan in China?" I could and did answer with an emphatic "No." Beyond that I said nothing.

All that day and the next reports streamed in from many quarters that the Japanese were "crowing over their victory" in their talks with the Chinese. More Chinese officials and many Americans applied at the Legation for authentic word. But no help came from the Department of State. Indeed no word reached me until the morning of the 7th.

It cannot be said that the American secrecy pledge was not punctiliously observed—even to the extent of keeping in ignorance the American minister, who would have to bear the brunt of the consequences of this diplomatic manœuvre. The Japanese, meanwhile, had given the note not only to the Chinese Government several days in advance, but—was it out of abhorrence for secret diplomacy?—even before the notes had been signed their text was communicated to the representatives of Great Britain, Russia, France, and Italy. This was done at Tokyo.

It is not surprising that this procedure produced upon the Chinese the impression that the Japanese had got what they wanted. They thought the declarations made by the United States contained admission of a special position held by Japan in China, not desired by the latter, but forced through by the military and political power of Japan.

The reception given the note by Far Eastern experts and by the public indicated that it would be interpreted in widely varying fashion. The first impression only gradually gave way to a calmer judgment when the specific terms of the notes were carefully read and the ambiguous character of the instrument was realized. In the first place, the Japanese Legation, in translating for the benefit of the Chinese Ministry, had used for "special interest" a Chinese term which implied the idea of "special position." Doctor Tenney's more direct translation of the term was without this extra shade. The Department authorized me to deliver an explanatory note to the effect that the interests referred to were of an economic, not a political, nature. It referred to "Japan's commercial and industrial enterprises in China"; these, it added, "manifestly have, on account of the geographical relation of the two countries, a certain advantage over similar enterprises on the part of citizens or subjects of any other country."

I could not avoid the feeling that the form which the exchange of notes at Washington had taken was unfortunate. It was indeed desirable that the friendly attitude of the United States toward all Japan's economic activities in China should be stated strongly. This had been the tenor of the conversations between successive Japanese ministers and myself, which had been communicated to the State Department. It was necessary, if the Japanese really entertained it, to disabuse them of the conception that the political influence of the United States was being used to discourage close business relationships between China and Japan, and to frown upon Japanese enterprises in China. On the basis of such an understanding, it was hoped that Japan would join with the United States in agreeing that special privileges in any part of China, or any sort of economic advantage, would not be sought by political means; that the Manchurian régime, to be more specific, would not extend to other parts of China.

But the notes definitely stated that Japan would not use her special interests in a way to "discriminate against the trade of other nations, or to disregard the commercial rights heretofore granted by China in the treaties with other powers." This might give rise to the idea that "special interests" did not refer merely to specific economic interests and enterprises. It might include also a certain political influence or preference.

The Japanese minister, though disclaiming a reading which would imply a paramount interest, evidently saw in the notes an endorsement of the principle of spheres of influence. "The notes speak for themselves," he said in an interview on the 8th of November; "they simply again place on record the acknowledged attitude of the United States and Japan toward China. They are simply a restatement of an old position. Even the term 'special interests' is doubtless used in the same sense here as in the past. Several other countries have territory that borders on China; this fact gives them a special interest in these parts of China which they touch. In exactly the same way, Japan has special rights in China."