894.00/900
The Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 7.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, as of possible interest to the Department, a record of the statements made by Mr. K. Obata of the American Affairs Section of the Japanese Foreign Office to Mr. Hallett Abend35 when the former visited Shanghai. Mr. Obata was in China for a week or ten days and visited not only Shanghai but also Nanking, Tientsin and Peiping; he returned to Tokyo on January 9th.
It will be noted from the enclosure36 that Mr. Obata discussed with Mr. Abend such matters as the power of the more radical Japanese Army elements, the establishment of a new central government under Wang Ching-wei and the Japanese Army blockade of the concessions at Tientsin.
As regards the first subject, Mr. Obata deplored the continued power and dominance of the radical Army clique and bewailed the inability of the more moderate elements in Japan, among which he included the Foreign Office, successfully to oppose this group or to initiate and carry through more conservative policies.
With reference to the establishment of a new central government under Wang Ching-wei, Mr. Abend expressed the opinion that the Japanese were “running the whole show wrong” and that the obvious manner in which Wang Ching-wei’s every move, in connection with the establishment of a new régime, has been supervised and controlled by the Japanese has impaired his prestige in Chinese eyes and branded the word “puppet” more deeply across “Wang’s brow.” Mr. Obata apparently agreed that the Japanese had “mishandled” the “Wang Ching-wei affair” and not only expressed the view that it would be better to drop Wang Ching-wei but is said to have decided to urge upon Tokyo the abandonment of the whole scheme. He is also said to have made the somewhat astonishing proposal that Mr. Abend should proceed to Japan and urge upon prominent Japanese leaders, [Page 268] with whom Mr. Obata said he would arrange a secret meeting, the abandonment of the plan to set up Wang Ching-wei as the head of a new central government.
As regards the Japanese Army blockade of the concessions at Tientsin37 and the stripping of British subjects, Mr. Obata is reported to have attributed these developments not to General Homma, Commander of the Japanese Forces at Tientsin but to “ruffianly younger officers” against whom General Homma was said to be “powerless”.
While it is probable that many of Mr. Obata’s statements were designedly made for effect, nevertheless they would appear to indicate growing dissatisfaction in some government quarters with the radical element of the Japanese Army and also with the methods employed to bring about the establishment of a new central government in China.
Respectfully yours,