694.1117 American Japanese Trade Commission/1: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan ( Grew ) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 11—6:56 a.m.]
7. The Foreign Office has informally invited the attention of the Embassy to a projected American economic mission to the Orient purportedly under the auspices of the National Foreign Trade Council. The circular prospectus of the project, which has been cabled to the Foreign Office by Sawada,35 states that the decision to promote the mission was taken “after consultation with Departments of State and Commerce”. The prospectus envisages a comparatively brief visit to Japan and a long stay in China.
If this project is being seriously considered and if our Government is in a position to influence its plans I recommend that the following circumstances be given consideration.
- 1.
- The mission will be attended by the same secret negotiations, conjecture and speculative comment as were provoked by the Barnby Mission.36
- 2.
- The Japanese at the present time are intensely sensitive regarding foreign activities in China.
- 3.
- Without sacrificing or curtailing any American rights or interests, the method and manner of asserting those rights in the Far East are at present important.
- 4.
- A commercial or industrial mission to the Orient which deliberately emphasized preponderant Chinese interests and connections would inevitably be interpreted and resented in Japan as an American attempt to counteract Japan’s commercial influence in China and might well be regarded, at least by the vocal sections of the Chinese public, as a direct slap at Japan.
- 5.
- Foreign commercial missions to China are always under suspicion in Japan of having ulterior political objective and no amount of official denials can persuade the Japanese that such missions are not officially sponsored and supported.
Having in mind the foregoing considerations and with the conviction that our policy while fully supporting American legitimate rights and interests is at the same time to avoid unnecessary provocation of anti-American sentiment and irritation in Japan, especially at the present juncture, I cannot too strongly urge that the projected mission so frame its plans and announcements as to create a public impression of reasonable balance in its interests, investigations and contacts in Japan and China. Such a policy in my opinion would tend to facilitate and smooth the way for whatever reciprocal trade agreements might eventually be negotiated or promoted in the latter country apart from such business as might be done in Japan.
[Page 839]I therefore respectfully recommend:
- (a)
- that it be definitely understood at the outset that the mission would give at least as much attention to Japanese industry and commerce as to Chinese on the logical commercial ground that our present trade prospects with Japan are by far the greater.
- (b)
- that the mission be small and composed of a few outstanding men equal in caliber to the personnel of the recent Barnby Mission from Great Britain so that there can be no comparisons to American disadvantage.
- (c)
- that every proper effort be made by the mission to avoid either giving unnecessary offense to the Japanese or leading the Chinese to believe that American business and industry consider our Japanese commercial relations relatively unimportant.
The Commercial Attaché concurs in the foregoing recommendations.
In this general connection please refer to my despatch No. 1102, December 27, due in Washington January 14.