793.94/15767: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan ( Grew ) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 16—9:07 p.m.]
179. Department’s 92, March 14, 6 p.m.41 The following is translation by the Foreign Office of the Prime Minister’s statement:
“To free the world from contentions and conflicts and to make peace and good will prevail among mankind is an aim consonant with the great ideal upon which our Empire was founded. It is to that end that a new order in East Asia is contemplated. Every country should be enabled to find its proper place of peace and contentment; there should be amity and harmony among neighbors and there should be mutual respect for one another’s natural endowments and common prosperity and progress for all.
In the performance of the sacred task of reconstructing East Asia, the first step to be taken is to create and insure a new international relationship between Japan, Manchukuo, and China. Needless to say, this new relationship should of necessity conform to the deal [idea?] underlying the construction of the new order in East Asia. That is why neighborly amity and good will, common defense against the Comintern and economic cooperation were advocated in the statement of Premier Konoye.42 Our goal is plain as day. The concrete program for the construction of the new order which the Japanese Government proposes to accomplish in concert with the new Central Government of China is formulated on that very statement. It is devoted to no other purpose than that the nations concerned shall respect one another’s racial and national endowments and shall cultivate friendly relations of natural aid and good fellowship, stand guard against the menace of communism so as to insure the peace of East Asia, and practice the principle of ministering to one another’s needs by setting up a reciprocal economic system. That Japan will respect China’s independence and freedom has been made clear in the successive statements issued by our Government, and it will be proved in fact as the present disturbances subside.
Although Japan and China are now engaged in hostilities, the two peoples retain in their hearts the spoils [sic] of mutual sympathy and tolerance. The longer the hostilities last, the greater will be the sacrifice imposed upon East Asia. But certainly the great timeless mission of our Empire cannot be abandoned simply because of the sacrifices of this conflict. The determination of our Government and people is firm as ever, and the strength of our nation has been replenished according to plan, so that we are all ready to carry on our campaign, no matter how long, until the eyes of China’s anti-Japanese and pro-Communist regime are finally opened.
Farsighted men are not lacking among the 400 million people of China. Some enlightened leaders have long advocated peace and national salvation. In order to rescue their nation from suffering [Page 57] and distress, they are fearlessly standing for right and dedicating their lives to their cause. These men who share in the same solicitudes toward the general welfare of East Asia are our comrades. We cannot but admire them for their high purpose and their unselfish enterprise.
Mr. Wang Ching-wei is an outstanding figure of this group. He could not endure to see the actual state of affairs by which his people are needlessly plunged into the depth of misery owing to the mistaken policy of the Chungking regime, which in the last analysis only hastened the Sovietization of his country. He came out for national salvation through opposition to communism and conclusion of peace with Japan. In the face of all manners of pressure and persecution by Chungking, he pursued the path of his conviction, bringing light to his people lost in darkness. Thus has he won the confidence and the following of his nation. His peace and national salvation movement as well as the preparation for a new central government have made rapid headway since the Sixth Kuomintang National Congress which was held in Shanghai in August of last year.
For the sake of the peace of East Asia, we are truly gratified to know that the Central Political Council is to meet soon and a new central government will be brought to being with the united support and cooperation of both regimes at Peiping and Nanking and also of many leaders representing the various political groups and various sections of society. Japan will, of course, render wholehearted assistance toward the formation of the new government and is prepared speedily to extend recognition following its establishment.
In this connection I should add that I am deeply impressed by the fact that in full accord with Mr. Wang those leading statesmen in the Peiping and Nanking Government who have for the past two and a half years devoted every ounce of their energy to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of their respective areas, are now going forward with the work of restoring peace and building up a new China.
On the eve of the establishment of a new central government of China, I express my ardent hope that Mr. Wang and all those other men of vision and leadership, united in purpose and resolute in action, will proceed with the great task for the regeneration of Asia. I am convinced that their earnest endeavors will meet with approval and support, both in and out of China, and that the misfortune brought on by the present Sino-Japanese conflict will be turned into an eternal blessing.”
Repeated to Peiping and Chungking.
- Not printed; it requested report of statement by the Japanese Prime Minister (Yonai) on March 13, 1940.↩
- Of December 22, 1938, vol. i, p. 482.↩