File No. 893.00/2701
The Secretary of State to the Japanese Ambassador
memorandum
The American Government shares in principle the views expressed by the Imperial Japanese Government in the memorandum handed to the Secretary of State by His Imperial Japanese Majesty’s Ambassador on September 4, 1917, stating that the Japanese Government have no intention of showing nor have any reason to show any preference for either of the political factions in China and that they are convinced that all the foreign Powers ought in their common interest to lend their sincere and effective support to that government which represents the sole legal authority in China at present and that it is of the utmost importance to withhold any encouragement or material assistance to individuals or associations seeking to overthrow the Government at Peking.
The American Government moreover is of opinion that the principal Powers at war with Germany ought at once to confer together and agree upon the best method of supplying that effective support to which the memorandum under acknowledgment refers.
Washington , September 6, 1917.