File No. 893.00/804.
The Japanese Chargé d’Affaires to the Secretary of State.
[Memorandum.—Translation of the substance of the telegram received by the Japanese Chargé d’Affaires from his Government. Handed to the Secretary of State December 21, 1911.]
In reference to the views of the Imperial Government on the present situation in China, which have been communicated to the Government to which you are accredited, the Imperial Government had also laid them before the British Government for an expression of the latter’s view. Prior to this the British Minister at Peking, at the request of Yuan Shih Kai, instructed the British Consul General at Hankow to use his good offices between the Government and the revolutionaries, with consequent agreement between the two parties to the articles of armistice leading to the present negotiations for a settlement between them.
In view of what has thus been reached, the British Government approached the Imperial Government, independently of the latter’s views above referred to, with the proposition of assisting the negotiations between Yuan Shih Kai and the revolutionaries. The proposition having been agreed to by the Imperial Government, it has been decided that the two Governments of Japan and Great Britain jointly lend assistance to the contending parties in their negotiations. This move on the part of the two Governments being however intended as no more than affording an assistance of merely benevolent nature in the interests of the parties directly concerned, it is hoped that the Government to which you are accredited will understand accordingly.
Washington (not dated).