Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1936, The Far East, Volume IV
793.003 Manchuria/11
The Belgian Ambassador (Van der Straten-Ponthoz) to the Secretary of State
No. 3303
Mr. Secretary of State: By direction of the King’s Government, I have the honor to avail myself of Your Excellency’s kindness with a view to ascertaining, if possible, the sentiment of the American Government with regard to the declaration made, on July 1st last, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Hsinking, concerning the status of foreigners residing in Manchuria. The matter under discussion relates in particular to those belonging to countries still enjoying the privilege of extraterritoriality in Manchuria, as a consequence of the fact that they have it in China.
The declaration in question appears to take the form of an invitation to a group of powers to engage in pourparlers with respect to the status of their nationals in the new empire.
The enclosed note sets forth the different considerations which have received the attention of my Government.
It would be happy to learn the intentions of the American Government as to the action to be taken on the overtures of the Manchukuo Government.
The King’s Government would especially appreciate it if it could receive such information as soon as possible.
I avail myself [etc.]
The Belgian Embassy to the Department of State
Note
The following points will certainly not have escaped the attention of the American Government. The King’s Embassy states them here only to define clearly the circumstances under which the Belgian Government would be interested in ascertaining the intentions of the United States Government as to the action to be taken on the overtures of the Manchukuo Government.
For more than three years, the Japanese military party sought to obtain the elimination of the privilege of extraterritoriality for Japanese nationals in Manchukuo, but always encountered a strong opposition on the part of the civilian elements who dreaded this change [Page 284] and preferred to remain subject to their own consular and judicial authorities, knowing that the final consequence of elimination of the privilege would be a considerable increase of the taxes and imports that they would have to pay, and the largest part of which they had succeeded in eluding up to the present, under the protection of the privilege.
On its part, the military element saw in the subjection of Japanese nationals to the laws of Manchukuo a means of increasing the budgetary receipts of the new Empire which it has created, and thus indirectly, the participation of the latter in the military expenses of the Japanese army in Manchuria, so burdensome for the home government.
The two parties finally arrived at a compromise, as shown by the conclusion of the Treaty of June 10, 1936, signed by His Excellency Mr. Chang Yen Ching, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Manchukuo and His Excellency General K. Uyeda, Ambassador of Japan at Hsin-king, concerning the residence and the taxation of Japanese subjects in Manchukuo; this treaty is accompanied with an Interpretative Accord of the same date. As these acts went into force on July 1st, it is therefore officially from that date that the Japanese and Koreans ceased to enjoy extraterritoriality in Manchuria.
Thus, as the United States Government is aware, the elimination of extraterritoriality will be gradual and will be effected in three stages. Beginning with July 1st of this year, Japanese nationals will be subject to taxes collected by the various Manchu authorities, but on the basis of a reduced schedule.
As a second stage, on a date not yet fixed, Japanese and Korean persons and firms will be subject to Manchu laws on industry and commerce. The third stage, the time for which is also undetermined, will place Japanese nationals entirely under the jurisdiction of the laws and courts of the Manchu Empire. With respect to the application of legal penalties, a comparative scale of the various Japanese and Manchu terms of imprisonment has been published, which permits the assumption that Japanese prisoners will serve their prison terms in Japanese penitentiaries, whether in Manchukuo or Japan.
It is estimated that the accomplishment of this whole program will not exceed a period of five years.
But while the elimination of the privilege is only to be effected very gradually, on the other hand, the advantages that will result therefrom for Japanese nationals will be immediate; hereafter, they will have the right to reside and travel, engage in commerce, industry and agriculture, to own lands and real estate throughout the Manchu Empire. They already had these rights de facto, but they now obtain legal sanction of them.
[Page 285]These reforms are the result of labors of various commissions which have held sessions either at Hsinking, or Tokio, since March, 1933.
As the special zone of the South Manchurian Railway enjoys a special régime, which it is also necessary to eliminate gradually, the Japanese Government has published a series of regulations which will remain in force until January 1, 1938, on which date the administration and police rights will be transferred to the Hsinking Government.
With a view to subjecting the inhabitants of this zone to the same taxes as those imposed on the inhabitants of the Manchu territory, the Japanese Government has established four new taxes by these regulations, on wheat flour, tobacco, alcoholic beverages and cement.
The Treaty will not affect Japanese jurisdiction over Kwantung Leased Territory, in which the Cities of Dairen and Port Arthur are situated.
On July 1, the very day on which the new treaty went into force, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Hsinking made a declaration concerning the status of foreigners residing in Manchuria and belonging to a country still enjoying the privilege of extraterritoriality in Manchuria, as the result of that which they still have in China.
Although by the note addressed, on March 12, 1932, by Manchukuo to seventeen countries,95 and to which there has been no reply, the new Government undertook to respect the obligations contracted by the Republic of China toward these different countries, the fact is now established that in principle, at least, it refuses to continue to respect one of them. According to certain commentaries, it takes as a basis the circumstance that by their failure to reply, these same powers have reduced this declaration to the level of a unilateral act, and that they cannot claim to continue enjoying a privilege by virtue of a document which they do not recognize as a communication from an independent state.
Nevertheless, the Manchukuo Government will continue, as a favor, and pending a solution of the question, to apply with certain restrictions, to the nationals of those countries, a treatment similar to that which they would have enjoyed if they still really had the privilege of extraterritoriality.
In comparison with the number of Japanese subjects—about 300,000 Japanese and 1,000,000 Koreans—the number of such foreigners in Manchukuo is insignificant; indeed, it must not be forgotten that the Russians (40,000), the Poles (4,000), the Germans, the Austrians, the Czechoslovaks, the Estonians, Latvians, etc., do not have this privilege, either because their countries lost it as a consequence of the World [Page 286] War, or because they never had it, being succession States of the Russian and Austrian Empires.
The countries still possessing extraterritoriality are listed, with the number of their nationals, in the table below:
(Statistics of the Hsinking Government)
| Manchukuo | Special Zone of the South Manchurian Railway |
|
| England | 398 | 11 |
| Canada | 72 | 3 |
| British India | 9 | 0 |
| United States | 212 | 21 |
| France | 187 | 3 |
| Belgium | 25 | 1 |
| Italy | 39 | 0 |
| Switzerland | 42 | 0 |
| Denmark | 141 | 0 |
| Portugal | 5 | 0 |
| Netherlands | 33 | 0 |
| Norway | 7 | 1 |
| Sweden | 18 | 0 |
| Spain | 0 | 0 |
| Mexico | 0 | 0 |
| Peru | 0 | 0 |
So far as the Belgians are concerned, this official figure is certainly less than the actual number, for in the province of Jehol there are already more than 50 Belgian missionaries, and probably as many more in the province of Chahar which seems to be completely occupied now by the Japanese-Manchu army.
We see from these figures, even if they are somewhat below the actual figure, that the number of foreigners still enjoying extraterritoriality is very small; moreover, a large number of those are Catholic or Protestant missionaries; although France continues to protect the Missions the presence of an Apostolic Delegate at Hsinking permits the direct settlement of many questions concerning the Catholic religious institutions; as to the Protestant missionaries, the tendency among them is to avoid availing themselves of their privilege of extraterritoriality in their relations with the authorities; so far as other cases are concerned the consuls have in general tried to settle each matter in a friendly way with the local authority, according to the particular circumstances; nevertheless the English consular court has continued to function in the last few years to try certain insurance cases or usury cases, of which offense the Hindus commonly render themselves guilty.
The Manchu courts are still in full course of reorganization, which renders their operation very slow; the young Japanese magistrates [Page 287] who form a framework for the Manchu judges are animated, it is said, by a spirit of good will, but are still lacking in local experience.
The declaration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will perhaps not have a very great practical bearing but it constitutes, for a group of Powers, an invitation to break a silence of over four years and to enter into pourparlers on the subject of the status of their nationals in the new Empire; these pourparlers, the utility of which is making itself felt more than formerly, seem bound, however, to remain subject to a prior settlement, or at least the adoption of a modus vivendi, between Japan and China, concerning the Manchurian question, which would permit of a modification of the point of view of this group of Powers concerning this question, by at least an implicit “de facto” recognition of the young Empire.
The German-Manchu Trade Agreement of April 30, with the presence, soon, of a German Trade Commissioner at Hsinking, already gives German trade a privileged situation; without being able to claim such a situation, which is explained not only by the fact that Germany is the chief European buyer of Manchurian products, but also by political reasons sufficiently known to the American Government, arrangements pursuant to the recent declaration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not but be favorable to the development of the interests of such countries as might conclude them with Manchuria.
An arrangement dealing only with the régime applicable to the nationals of such countries would obviously not justify the claim to obtain the inclusion of the most-favored-nation clause; it is even probable that it would never be obtained in any case, for it would be for Japan the abandonment of her theory of “her special interests” in Manchuria which she has been invoking so frequently for the past 30 years; nevertheless, it is allowable to think that in exchange for the official abandonment of the privilege, rights would be obtained analogous to those of foreigners in Japan proper.
Furthermore, the representatives of those Powers would have officially, as have the German representatives already, an easy access to the authorities of the capital in order to effect all steps and negotiations relative to the interests of their nationals.
- For text of note, see telegram of this date from Mr. Hsieh Chieh-shih, Foreign Relations, 1932, vol. iii, p. 579.↩