793.94/8566
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 6.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a translation of a recent magazine article37 by Lieutenant General Kenji Doihara, the Japanese officer who was so conspicuous in Manchuria in 1931 and 1932. Doihara is one of the Itagaki group, which has great weight in the army, and his views on the usefulness of increased Japanese armaments are worthy of attention, whatever may be the official policy of the Hayashi Cabinet.
The underlying chain of reasoning in the author’s mind seems to be something like this: In Japan-Soviet rivalry, China is the vital field. Communism in China must be stopped at any cost. An obstacle to Japan is the anti-Japanese agitation; Chiang Kai-shek made use of the movement for his own particular purposes, but it got out of hand until now its demands could be met only by Japan’s abandoning the fight against communism, terminating activities in North China, and returning Manchuria. Japan’s policy must be neither to support Chiang (which would be to accept his compromise with the communists) nor to overthrow him (which would inflame anti-Japanese sentiment), but to go to the Chinese people with a propaganda campaign which may have some small effect in spite of great difficulties; and more important, Japan’s policy must be to strengthen national unity by internal reform, to increase Chinese respect for Japanese power by expanding the national armament of Japan. The necessary prelude to China’s understanding Japan’s disinterestedness is the building up of Japan’s military power.
Respectfully yours,
- Not reprinted.↩