793.94/14790: Telegram
The Chargé in China (Peck) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 8—6 a.m.]
158. In a radio broadcast to the nation last night the Chinese Foreign Minister25 spoke at length on the subject of the so-called “new order in East Asia”. In the course of his address Dr. Wang declared:
“The so-called new order for East Asia is, in fact, merely another name for the destruction of China’s political independence and territorial integrity, complete domination of the Pacific by Japan, and the elimination of legitimate American and European interests in the Far East. It is absolutely irreconcilable with the letter and spirit of the Nine Power Treaty concluded at Washington in 192226 for the purpose of safeguarding the peace of the Pacific”.
Saying that the Nine Power Treaty embodies the two great principles of respect for China’s sovereignty and independence, and her territorial and administrative integrity, and the Open Door and equal opportunity, Dr. Wang asserted:
“Japan is one of the signatories of this international treaty, but by her action in the northeastern provinces, and by her armed invasion of North, Central and South China, she has violated the first fundamental principle of this treaty. Similarly, by her economic activities in the northeast, in North and Central China, she has definitely closed the Open Door to the detriment of the legitimate interests of third powers”.
Dr. Wang also stressed his belief in the importance of the Nine Power Treaty as the foundation of peace and stability in the Pacific area and added that disregard of this treaty and of the League Covenant27 and the Pact of Paris28 had brought down on Japan the moral censure of the entire world. In this relation he expressed the hope that the day would not be far off when Japan would be confronted with actual reprisals by those powers whose interests she had been seeking to destroy.
Repeated to Peiping for mailing Tokyo.