THE SITUATION FLARES UP AGAIN I2I

tenance of order in East Asia. If such negotiations are of a nature
that might disturb peace and order in East Asia, Japan will be
obliged to oppose them.

For example, supplying China with warplanes, building aero-
dromes in China, and detailing military instructors or military
advisers to China, or contracting a loan to provide funds for political
uses, would obviously tend to separate Japan and other countries
from China and ultimately .would prove prejudicial to the peace
of East Asia. Japan will oppose such projects*

The foregoing attitude should be made clear by the policies
followed by Japan in the past. But, due to the fact that gestures
for joint assistance to China and for other aggressive assistance,
by foreign countries, are becoming too conspicuous, it is deemed
advisable to make known the foregoing policies.
*

There has been much conjecture regarding the reasons for the
issuance of Amau's statement of April 17. I endeavoured to define
those reasons in our telegrams and in our last dispatch to the De-
partment, based chiefly on the theory that Japan was becoming
restive at the cumulative evidence of foreign activities in China.
Furthermore, approval of the doctrine that Japan alone is respon-
sible for the maintenance of peace in the Far East would give Japan
added claims to naval parity in the forthcoming naval conference,
and would also enable her to dominate China, Amau had been
pressed by the Japanese newspaper correspondents for comment on
these various matters and Shigemitsu finally agreed to his giving out
the substance of an instruction already sent to Ariyoshi, Minister
to China.

Whether or not Hirota approved the issuance of the statement is
unessential, for the statement accurately expresses the policy which
Japan would like to pursue. While there has been criticism of the
phraseology, the substance of the statement seems to have the un-
qualified approval of practically all Japanese, and Hirota, in the
present state of public opinion, could not repudiate the statement
and remain in office. The net result of the statement will probably
be : (i) an intensification of the feeling of isolation that has pre-
vailed since the Manchurian campaign; (2) a furtherance of the
Army and Navy campaign to prepare for the " crisis" of 1935-36,
and (3) the development of patriotic feeling to such an extent that no
Japanese Government will be able to compromise with the powers
in case of decided differences in viewpoint regarding policies towards
China or with respect to naval ratios.

Saw Sir Francis Lindley off at the station, Hirota and most of the
colleagues being there.

With deep regret I saw Lindley go. We were colleagues in Cairo
thirty years ago, and Alice and I have always had sincere affection
for him and his wife. He has been a good colleague and perfectly
frank and free in imparting even confidential information.