Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1925, Volume I

893.74/627

The Japanese Embassy to the Department of State³¹

undated

(1) The Japanese Government are gratified to note that the proposals contained in the memorandum of the Waichiaopu dated August 28, 1925³² for the adjustment of the question of wireless telegraphy in China are in substantial agreement with the plan suggested in the Memoranda of the Japanese Embassy at Washington, dated December 24, and June 1, 1925, copies of which have been communicated to the Chinese Government. The memorandum of the Waichiaopu under examination contemplates the naturalization of all high power radio stations in China. It intimates that such stations are to be established with proceeds of foreign loans to be raised for that purpose, but that, upon completion, they shall be placed under the exclusive control and administration of the Chinese Government. It is precisely in support of this line of policy that the Japanese Government have suggested to the American Government that the two sets of contracts now held respectively by the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha and the Federal Telegraph Company be amalgamated into a new and comprehensive loan agreement with the participation of American, British, French and Japanese radio interests, and that all features of foreign control or monopoly be excluded from such a loan agreement.

(2) By the terms of the Waichiaopu’s memorandum it appears that China has in view the construction of certain new stations for external communication, in addition to the one recently constructed by the Mitsui Company near Peking and it is proposed that a loan to be raised to cover the cost of construction of these stations shall be secured on the revenue of such establishments and redeemed in annual instalments. The memorandum does not specify when and where these additional stations are to be set up. In any case, it seems quite obvious that any further station which may be established at present or in the near future can not reasonably be expected to yield a sufficient amount of revenue to meet China’s indebtedness under the proposed loan. Nor is such an extensive programme believed to be reconcilable with the avowed policy of the Chinese Government to effect the financial retrenchment urgently called for in the best interests of the nation. Its unwisdom will appear all the more striking, when it is considered that on the whole Pacific Coast of the United States, with its immense volume of trade, there is only one trans-oceanic radio station open for public use. Accordingly, it is presumed to be the intention of the Chinese Government to reserve the plan of constructing any additional high power stations, until the commercial and industrial condition of the country shall warrant such an undertaking. The Japanese Government confidently hope that this presumption will be confirmed by the Chinese Government.

(3) The only difference of any importance between the Japanese and Chinese proposals is thus reduced to the question as to whether British and French radio interests, besides Japanese and American, shall be invited to participate in the new loan agreement in which the existing contracts of the Mitsui and of the Federal are to be merged. The Japanese Government hold to the belief that it is highly desirable, for the promotion of international good understanding, no less than for the development of China’s own radio enterprise, to enlist the friendly co-operation of British and French interests.

The fairness of the claim of these two nations to participate in the proposed arrangement must be admitted, while their support is certainly required in order to secure the satisfactory working of Chinese radio enterprise in its relation with Europe. It need hardly be pointed out that the co-operation of the four-Power radio interests on the lines indicated can not, in any sense, be taken as a measure implying any degree of international control, or international administration, of wireless telegraphy in China, which is as strongly deprecated by the Japanese Government as by the Chinese Government.

(4) Should the foregoing observations meet the approval of China, the Japanese Government, on their part, will be happy to do whatever lies in their power, in co-operation with the Chinese Government, to expedite a solution of the long pending difficulty.

Being satisfied that it is not so much a question of principle as of detail which separates the Japanese and Chinese proposals under review, the Japanese Government are encouraged in the hope that a fair and speedy adjustment could be arrived at, if the same basic principle now found acceptable to both Governments will commend itself equally to a favourable reception on the part of the American Government.

31. Handed to the Secretary by the Japanese Ambassador, Oct. 9, 1925. This paper bears the annotation: “English translation of the reply of the Japanese Government to the Memorandum of the Wai-Chiao-Pu dated Aug. 28, 1925.”
32. See telegrams Nos. 360 and 361, Aug. 29, from the Minister in China, pp. 919 and 920.