893.102S/2199: Telegram
The Consul at Shanghai (Butrick) to the Secretary of State
[Received 7 p.m.]
798. Shanghai Defense Sectors. On August 17 Vice Admiral Iwamura initiated the negotiations mentioned in my 797, August 19, [Page 772] 1 p.m. and the salient parts of the memoranda of their conversations will be reported later. Admiral Iwamura handed to Admiral Glass-ford a statement of the Japanese position with a free translation which follows:
[“] It is a sheer fact, which nobody in the whole world would deny, that Japan has, over the period of more than 3 years, in China, instituted de facto war and deadly fightings are going on. And it is also a fact that the whole Japanese nation have been making their utmost efforts in fighting out the incident in the earnest desire of restoring peace in the Far East without delay, thus contributing to the cause of peace and welfare of the whole world.
There may be several reasons why the Chungking Government are still keeping on their fighting and among them the following fact is to be mentioned that the International Settlement and the French Concession in Shanghai have not yet severed the political and economic ties with the Chungking Government, thus serving as a center of anti-Japanese terroristic acts and as the base of the economic activities for the important supplying depot for the Chungking Government, to the detriment of all our efforts in the blockading operations.
In spite of all these unbearable state of affairs in the Settlement and Concession, which are so small in size amid the vast areas under the Japanese occupation as could be easily occupied by the Japanese forces,26 which took all the trouble of blockading the whole coast of China, occupying important cities, intercepting lines of communications and also occupying vast area of the Chinese territory, have hitherto been enduring the unbearable and refraining from taking any desirable steps, it clearly shows the high degree of patience and self-perseverance of the Japanese forces.
It is also a sheer fact that during the past 3 years, in the Settlement and Concession, encircled by the Japanese forces, so many cases of anti-Japanese activities and terroristic acts have been committed, the fact being so conspicuous that it is needless to enumerate such cases, but, on the contrary, practically no such case has taken place as inflicting damages to the life and property of the third power nationals and therefore as new [necessitating] existence of their own defence forces.
The preceding facts unquestionably bring forward the conclusion to the consideration as to who should justly take over the responsibility for the defence of the said area, that is, should it be carried out by the defense forces of the power whose nationals are hardly threatened with [terror], or by those of the power whose nationals and other people closely connected with them are far more threatened and inflicted with actual [harm].
It goes without saying that while the authorities vested to the administration of the Settlement merely cover the sphere of municipal administration, such as policing, promotion of the welfare of the residents, et cetera, the territorial rights on the [Settlement] area are naturally in the hands of China. Now the vast areas in and [Page 773] around Shanghai are very desirous [under] occupation by the Japanese forces, and the responsibility for maintaining peace and order in the area rests on the said forces. Therefore, upon cognizance of the actual state of affairs now existing in and round Shanghai, the responsibility which is derived from the sovereignty resting on China should now be borne by the Japanese occupying forces.
3. Upon inquiry into the matter of stationing foreign troops here in the Settlement and Concession, no authentic ground based on treaties could be found, and its origin may be traced to the incident of 1927 when the revolutionary forces threatened this area27 and the Chinese authorities actually proved to be unable to fulfill the responsibility, which are inherent to the territorial rights, of maintaining peace and order in the said area, and therefore the landing of the foreign troops and stationing of the same were necessitated as unavoidable and practical steps. Under the consideration of the now existing state of affairs in the area, the above causes have now ceased to exist, the said area being actually occupied and the peace and order well maintained by the Japanese forces; the fact calls for deep and thorough attention. The standing of the Japanese forces should be regarded quite different from that of the other foreign defense forces in view of the above-mentioned facts together with the existence in the said area of numerous Chinese inhabitants hostile towards Japan.
Thus, in careful examination of that reasoning, the recently proposed step that troops other than the Japanese are to extend their defense sector, is deemed quite unnatural as well as illegitimate and it could not possibly be welcome from the side of Japan.”
He asked for a statement of the American position which was presented to him by Glassford that afternoon. It follows:
“The International Settlement is an area wherein persons of all nationalities reside, and is governed by the Municipal Council, a locally created and locally maintained agency whose officers are elected by, and are responsible to its own tax payers regardless of nationality; and no power during the last century has attempted or claimed right of preponderance or predominance of influence here.
Foreign forces are stationed in the International Settlement for the purpose of assisting the Municipal Council in the protection of the lives and property of the nationals of the various countries concerned, and in connection with that duty the maintenance of order in general. The powers have in that connection both indulgence and common responsibilities.
The International Settlement defense scheme is an instrument for the discharge of these responsibilities, both common and individual; and in accomplishing the revision of the present defense scheme necessitated by the withdrawal of the British forces, no fair and reasonable adjustment can be achieved unless this fact is recognized.
The sectors allotted by the present defense scheme generally conform, in so far as the military necessities of the defense problem allows, to the geographical location of the areas wherein the respective powers, [Page 774] by reason of residence of their nationals, and the location of property and business enterprises thereof, have their gifted [greatest] interests.
The original proposals of the American forces to take over both the areas to be evacuated by the British was based upon the fact that those areas, by reason of the conditions referred to above, are regions in which American interests are greater than those of any other power that is to be represented in the new defense scheme. That is, the individual responsibility of the American forces made it greatly desirable that they be charged with the defense duties in those areas.
The American authorities are, however, fully aware of the international character of the Settlement and of the common responsibilities of the forces organized into its international defense scheme. Because of their appreciation of the above factors, and in their desire to obtain a just and reasonable settlement, and one satisfactory to all, the American authorities readily acquiesced to the compromise proposal offered by the municipal police, passed by the majority vote of the Defense Committee and approved by the Municipal Council.
The American authorities strongly believe that it is proper that the Settlement authorities, because of the international character of the area which they administer, should refrain from involvement in controversial matters having their origin beyond the Settlement boundaries; and, therefore, that no one power having interests in the Settlement, however extensive they may be, should take advantage of developments which have their origin elsewhere to prejudice the international character of the Settlement.
They also believe that, in view of all the circumstances now obtaining, the allocation of British defense sectors as envisaged in the compromise plan passed by the Defense Committee on 15 August is entirely just and reasonable [and] fulfills the important qualification of recognizing the common responsibilities of the defense forces as well as their individual ones, thus preserving the international character of the Settlement.
It is pertinent to point out that there can scarcely be any doubt of the fact that the international character of that portion of the Settlement contained in the present Japanese defense sector has been gravely impaired by conditions which have been permitted to arise there; and that, therefore, it is only natural that there should be some degree of apprehension on the part of all those interested in the maintenance of the international character of the Settlement as to the prospect of further areas within the Settlement boundaries being assigned as Japanese defense sectors.”
While the Japanese Navy was doubtless anxious to put forth its views and to learn the views of the American side, it will be noted that as a tactical maneuver this afforded them to some extent at least a basis for stating that as the views were so divergent a compromise would be necessary. This compromise naturally would be a compromise of a compromise as the proposal that the Americans take over B Sector and the Japanese take over D Sector was in itself a compromise.
Sent to the Department and Tokyo. Repeated to Chungking and Peiping. Department please inform Navy.
- For correction, see telegram No. 829, August 23, 6 p.m., from the Consul at Shanghai, p. 791.↩
- See Foreign Relations, 1927, vol. ii, pp. 44 ff.↩