793.94/10524: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 9—6:15 a.m.]
463. Following is text of Foreign Office statement as released in English at 1:35 p.m. today:
“The League of Nations has declared that the actions now being taken by Japan in China are a violation of the Nine-Power Treaty and the Treaty for the Renunciation of War, and the State Department of the United States has issued a statement to the same purport. [Page 400] However, these steps must be attributed to an unfortunate lack of understanding of the real circumstances as well as the true intentions of Japan, a state of affairs which the Japanese Government deem very regrettable.
The present Sino-Japanese affair originated in the unwarranted attack made by Chinese forces on Japanese garrison troops legitimately stationed in North China under rights clearly recognized by treaty. The troop which was maneuvering at the time of the outbreak was a very small unit. The Japanese garrison force was then scattered in different parts, engaged in peacetime duties. After the outbreak of hostilities, Japan did everything in her power to reach a local settlement of the incident, even at the sacrifice of strategical advantages. These facts are sufficient to prove that the action of the Japanese force was by no means premeditated but simply defensive.
China is undoubtedly responsible for the spread of the affair to Shanghai and then to other points of Central China. She openly violated the agreement for the cessation of hostilities concluded in 1932 by concentrating overwhelmingly numerous forces of more than 40,000 men in the demilitarized zone and attempted to annihilate our naval landing party, numbering but a scant 3,000, and our 30,000 nationals living in the Settlement, amongst whom were many women and children.
The subsequent development of the Japanese military action has been but the unavoidable consequence of the hostile operations of China, who, ignoring our policy of a local settlement and non-aggravation of the situation, moved and concentrated her large armies against us. The action which Japan is taking at the present time is a measure of defense to which she has been compelled to resort by the premeditated provocative acts of China.
What the Japanese Government seek today is merely the abandonment by China of her anti-Japanese policy and the establishment of the enduring peace in East Asia, through sincere cooperation between Japan and China. They have no territorial designs whatever.
In the light of these circumstances, it must be firmly declared that the present action of Japan in China contravenes none of the existing treaties which are in force.
The Chinese Government lending themselves to Communist intrigue, have brought about the present hostilities by their persistent and malicious anti-Japanese measures and their attempt to do away with rights and vital interests of Japan in China by force of arms. It is they who should be deemed a violator of the spirit of the Treaty for the Renunciation of War—a menace to the peace of the world.”