[Enclosure]
Memorandum by the Japanese Embassy
In the Memorandum of the Japanese Embassy dated July 8, 1921,
reference was made to the fact that already a year ago the Japanese
military forces had been completely withdrawn from the Trans-Baikal
and the Amur Provinces, soon after the fulfilment of their mission
of rendering assistance to the homeward departure of Czechoslovak
troops from Siberia. It was further explained that only in the
southern portion of the Maritime Province the actual conditions
which then prevailed compelled Japan to continue for the time being
the stationing of a sufficient number of troops to provide against
the impending menace to the security of her Korean frontier and to
the lives and property of several thousands of her nationals who had
long established themselves in and around Vladivostock. It was added
that in the meantime, Japan was looking forward to an early
opportunity which would enable her to carry out with assurance the
recall of her troops from the Maritime Province.
Towards the fall of last year, a number of independent local
authorities who had formerly held their own in various parts of
Eastern Siberia amalgamated and developed into a unified body known
as the Far Eastern Republic, with the seat of its Government at
Chita. That Government has convoked a constitutional assembly and
has declared itself in support of a system of non-communistic
democracy. Evidently it has not yet gained substantial stability,
but it represents at the present moment the sole de facto authority of any organized form in Eastern
Siberia. It recently approached the Japanese Government with
overtures to open negotiations looking to the establishment of the
relations of amity and commerce between Japan and Eastern Siberia.
The Japanese Government, willing to join in any reasonable attempt
to put an end to the present unsatisfactory situation in Siberia,
have decided to accept the invitation and have appointed a
delegation to meet with the representatives of the Chita Government.
A conference will shortly be held at a convenient place in the
Kwantung Province.
The proposed conference has essentially in view the conclusion of
commercial arrangements, the removal of the existing menace to the
security of Japan and to the lives and property of Japanese
residents in Eastern Siberia, the provision of guarantees for the
freedom of industrial undertakings in that region and the
prohibition of Bolshevik propaganda over the Siberian border. These
negotiations are in no way intended to secure for Japan any right or
advantage of an exclusive character. They are solely actuated by a
desire to adjust provisionally some of the more pressing questions
by affecting Japan’s national safety and welfare.
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Should the conference succeed in arranging suitable provisions on the
line above indicated, the Japanese Government will at once proceed,
in pursuance of their declared policy, to the complete withdrawal of
Japanese troops from the Maritime Province.
The question of redress for the massacres at Nikolaievsk is
admittedly one which the Chita Government, under existing
conditions, is in no position to take up. The settlement of that
question has therefore to be reserved for a later occasion.
Washington
,
August 22,
1921
.
