793.94/8643: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 1.]
Sir: With reference to this Embassy’s despatch No. 2388, dated April 30, 1937,92 introducing the question of whether or not Japan is endeavoring to revive the system of “spheres of influence” in China, I now have the honor to report that any such intention in the present Anglo-Japanese conversations has recently been denied in both Tokyo and London.
In an interview which Mr. Sato, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, granted to the foreign newspaper correspondents in Tokyo on May 6, 1937, one of the correspondents asked Mr. Sato if the references in official statements to Japan’s “special interests” in North China meant that Japan claimed a “sphere of influence” in that region. According to the Advertiser account of the interview, Mr. Sato denied any such meaning in the phrase “special interests”. He admitted that the expression is used in Japan but stated that it does not mean anything exclusive. Japan does not want to monopolize North China, and moreover China will not be so generous as to grant any monopoly in that region. At any rate, Japan does not demand exclusive rights and believes that it can live peacefully side by side in the economic world. In reply to another question regarding the Anglo-Japanese conversations, Mr. Sato denied that anything like “spheres of influence” in China is being discussed between the two countries.
Under London date of May 5, 1937, Domei telegraphed the following message to the Japanese press:
“The British Government has no intention of suggesting a revival of spheres of influence in China in any negotiations with other Powers interested in the Far East, Foreign Secretary R. Anthony Eden declared in reply to questions in the House of (Commons today.
Foreign Secretary Eden made his statement after Mr. Robert Morgan, Conservative, asked whether the Government had decided to broach the question in connection with efforts to reach a better international understanding regarding trade with China.”
While, therefore, any definite intention of reviving the system of “spheres of influence” is denied by both Japan and Great Britain, the fact remains that the tendency in Japan to regard North China as a special sphere for Japanese exploitation is not only strong but appears to be growing, and Mr. Sato, as was mentioned in despatch No. 2388, has twice indicated that Japan regards North China as a region which Japan should treat separately from the rest of China. [Page 83] The Japanese apparently are not asking for and do not expect to receive monopolistic economic rights in that region, but are working toward establishing special interests there much as they established special interests in Manchuria prior to 1931. If they are successful in their efforts, the eventual net result, if one can judge by the result in Manchuria, will be much the same as the establishment of an exclusive “sphere of interest”.
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩