894.00/636
Memorandum by the Counselor of Embassy in China (Peck)99
In the course of a general conversation1 Dr. Kung said that he was sometimes a little surprised at the lack of appreciation of the United States and of European Powers of the serious threat to international peace and security offered by Japanese imperialistic ambitions.
Dr. Kung remarked that in pursuit of these ambitions China was an instrumentality through which Japanese militarists hoped to acquire the power necessary to extend the beneficent rule of the Japanese Emperor, not only over Asia, but actually over the world. Looking upon the far-flung British Empire, Japanese militarists did not [Page 74] perceive why the Japanese sun should not shine over an equally extensive chain of possessions.
If Japan had taken pains from the beginning to cultivate friendly feelings on the part of the Chinese, the materialization of their dream might have been perceptibly advanced by this time. Admitted to friendly cooperation, the Chinese might have seen something in the idea of “Asia for the Asiatics”. Owing to the realities of Japanese operations, however, the Chinese understood that this idea was merely a cloak for Japanese ambition to extend Japanese domination.
Dr. Kung said that the army and navy of Japan have differing ideas regarding the steps which should be taken in the immediate future. The army believes that it would be best to wrest territory on the mainland from the Soviet Union and from China, whereas the navy believes that the next logical expansion should be toward islands in the South Pacific and adjacent to the southeastern coast of Asia, including those in the possession of European countries. Dr. Kung referred to the well-known economic invasion by the products of Japanese industries into the markets of the Occidental Powers, and even into those countries themselves. He said it was being claimed that British workmen in Lancashire were clothed in garments woven in Japan. He prophesied that the armed strength of Japan would some time be utilized to break down the tariff and other barriers with which modern industrialized nations now attempt to preserve their markets. On this account, i. e., the threat to their territorial possessions and to their markets, he could not understand why the western powers seemed so indifferent to the steps now being taken by Japan to consolidate and expand the bases of Japan’s military strength.
Dr. Kung expressed the opinion that the policy of providing for “collective security” would require that the nations thus threatened should take steps to curb Japan’s present actions and future ambitions.