File No. 893.00/1687½.
The Japanese Embassy to the Department of State.
The Japanese Ambassador, having reported to his Government of the aide mémoire handed to him by the Honorable the Secretary of State on April 2, in announcement of the purpose of the President on the subject of recognition to be accorded to the Government of China, has been instructed to express to the American Administration the cordial thanks of the Japanese Government for the important communication. The Japanese Government have always been no less anxious to find an early opportunity justifying such recognition. Having, however, in view the actual situation in China, and more especially the incident connected with the assassination of Sung Chiao-Jen in which the Peking authorities have been charged with being an accomplice, and which might eventually develop into serious complications between the North and the South, threatening the order and security of the country, the Japanese Government entertain a grave apprehension that the recognition, at this moment, of the Government in which Mr. Yuan Shi-Kai is provisionally the chief magistrate, would practically amount to an interference in favor of Mr. Yuan against the Southern Faction headed by Mr. Sun Yat-Sen and Mr. Huang Hsing, and would prove prejudicial, not only to the foreign Powers, but also to the true interest of China. Accordingly, the Japanese Government feel it clue to frankness to confess their inability, much to their regret, to co-operate in the prompt recognition of the new Government. They venture to hope that the American Government may find it possible and advisable to watch the further development of the situation in China, and to defer the action now proposed until definite establishment of repose and tranquility shall have been assured.