It is a very important matter of policy whether the Japanese
Government, in obedience to its divine mission, shall solve the
Chinese Question in a heroic manner by making China voluntarily
rely upon Japan. To force China to such a position there is
nothing else for the Imperial Japanese Government to do but to
take advantage of the present opportunity to seize the reigns of
political and financial power and to enter by all means into a
defensive alliance with her under secret terms as enumerated
below:
The Secret Terms of the Defensive Alliance
The Imperial Japanese Government, with due respect for the
Sovereignty and Integrity of China and with the object and hope of
maintaining the peace of the Far East, undertakes to share the
responsibility of co-operating with China to guard her against
internal trouble and foreign invasion and China shall accord to
Japan special facilities in the matter of China's National
Defence, or the protection of Japan's special rights and
privileges and for these objects the following treaty of Alliance
is to be entered into between the two contracting parties:
1. When there is internal trouble in China or when she is at war
with another nation or nations, Japan shall send her army to
render assistance, to assume the responsibility of guarding
Chinese territory and to maintain peace and order in China.
2. China agrees to recognize Japan's privileged position in South
Manchuria and Inner Mongolia and to cede the sovereign rights of
these regions to Japan to enable her to carry out a scheme of
local defence on a permanent basis.
3. After the Japanese occupation of Kiaochow, Japan shall acquire
all the rights and privileges hitherto enjoyed by the Germans in
regard to railways, mines and all other interests, and after peace
and order is restored in Tsingtao, the place shall be handed back
to China to be opened as an International Treaty port.
4. For the maritime defence of China and Japan, China shall lease
strategic harbours along the coast of the Fukien province to Japan
to be converted into naval bases and grant to Japan in the said
province all railway and mining rights.
5. For the reorganization of the Chinese army China shall entrust
the training and drilling of the army to Japan.
6. For the unification of China's firearms and munitions of war,
China shall adopt firearms of Japanese pattern, and at the same
time establish arsenals (with the help of Japan) in different
strategic points.
7. With the object of creating and maintaining a Chinese Navy,
China shall entrust the training of her navy to Japan.
8. With the object of reorganizing her finances and improving the
methods of taxation, China shall entrust the work to Japan, and
the latter shall elect competent financial experts who shall act
as first-class advisers to the Chinese Government.
9. China shall engage Japanese educational experts as educational
advisers and extensively establish schools in different parts of
the country to teach Japanese so as to raise the educational
standard of the country.
10. China shall first consult with and obtain the consent of Japan
before she can enter into an agreement with another Power for
making loans, the leasing of territory, or the cession of the
same.
From the date of the signing of this Defensive Alliance, Japan and
China shall work together hand-in-hand. Japan will assume the
responsibility of safeguarding Chinese territory and maintaining
the peace and order in China. This will relieve China of all
future anxieties and enable her to proceed energetically with her
reforms, and, with a sense of territorial security, she may wait
for her national development and regeneration. Even after the
present European War is over and peace is restored China will
absolutely have nothing to fear in the future of having pressure
brought against her by the foreign powers. It is only thus that
permanent peace can be secured in the Far East.
But before concluding this Defensive Alliance, two points must
first be ascertained and settled. (1) Its bearing on the Chinese
Government. (2) Its bearing on those Powers having intimate
relations with and great interests in China.
In considering its effect on the Chinese Government, Japan must
try to foresee whether the position of China's present ruler Yuan
Shih-kai shall be permanent or not; whether the present
Government's policy will enjoy the confidence of a large section
of the Chinese people; whether Yuan Shi-kai will readily agree to
the Japanese Government's proposal to enter into a treaty of
alliance with us. These are points to which we are bound to give a
thorough consideration. Judging by the attitude hitherto adopted
by Yuan Shi-kai we know he has always resorted to the policy of
expediency in his diplomatic dealings, and although he may now
outwardly show friendliness towards us, he will in fact rely upon
the influence of the different Powers as the easiest check against
us and refuse to accede to our demands. Take for a single
instance, his conduct towards us since the Imperial Government
declared war against Germany and his action will then be clear to
all. Whether we can rely upon the ordinary friendly methods of
diplomacy to gain our object or not it does not require much
wisdom to decide. After the gigantic struggle in Europe is over,
leaving aside America which will not press for advantage, China
will not be able to obtain any loans from the other Powers. With a
depleted treasury, without means to pay the officials and the
army, with local bandits inciting the poverty-stricken populace to
trouble, with the revolutionists waiting for opportunities to
rise, should an insurrection actually occur while no outside
assistance can be rendered to quell it we are certain it will be
impossible for Yuan Shi-kai, single-handed, to restore order and
consolidate the country. The result will be that the nation will
be cut up into many parts beyond all hope of remedy. That this
state of affairs will come is not difficult to foresee. When this
occurs, shall we uphold Yuan's Government and assist him to
suppress the internal insurrection with the certain assurance that
we could influence him to agree to our demands, or shall we help
the revolutionists to achieve a success and realize our object
through them? This question must be definitely decided upon this
very moment so that we may put it into practical execution. If we
do not look into the future fate of China but go blindly to uphold
Yuan's Government, to enter into a Defensive Alliance with China,
hoping thus to secure a complete realization of our object by
assisting him to suppress the revolutionists, it is obviously a
wrong policy. Why? Because the majority of the Chinese people have
lost all faith in the tottering Yuan Shi-kai who is discredited
and attacked by the whole nation for having sold his country. If
Japan gives Yuan the support, his Government, though in a very
precarious state, may possibly avoid destruction. Yuan Shi-kai
belongs to that school of politicians who are fond of employing
craftiness and cunning. He may be friendly to us for a time, but
he will certainly abandon us and again befriend the other Powers
when the European war is at an end. Judging by his past we have no
doubt as to what he will do in the future. For Japan to ignore the
general sentiment of the Chinese people and support Yuan Shi-kai
with the hope that we can settle with him the Chinese Question is
a blunder indeed. Therefore in order to secure the permanent peace
of the Far East, instead of supporting a Chinese Government which
can neither be long continued in power nor assist in the
attainment of our object, we should rather support the 400,000,000
Chinese people to renovate their corrupt Government, to change its
present form, to maintain peace and order in the land and to usher
into China a new era of prosperity so that China and Japan may in
fact as well as in name be brought into the most intimate and
vital relations with each other. China's era of prosperity is
based on the China-Japanese Alliance and this Alliance is the
foundational power for the repelling of the foreign aggression
that is to be directed against the Far East at the conclusion of
the European war. This Alliance is also the foundation-stone of
the peace of the world. Japan therefore should take this as the
last warning and immediately solve this question. Since the
Imperial Japanese Government has considered it imperative to
support the Chinese people, we should induce the Chinese
revolutionists, the Imperialists and other Chinese malcontents to
create trouble all over China. The whole country will be thrown
into disorder and Yuan's Government will consequently be
overthrown. We shall then select a man from amongst the most
influential and most noted of the 400,000,000 of Chinese and help
him to organize a new form of Government and to consolidate the
whole country. In the meantime our army must assist in the
restoration of peace and order in the country, and in the
protection of the lives and properties of the people, so that they
may gladly tender their allegiance to the new Government which
will then naturally confide in and rely upon Japan. It is after
the accomplishment of only these things that we shall without
difficulty gain our object by the conclusion of a Defensive
Alliance with China.
For us to incite the Chinese revolutionists and malcontents to
rise in China we consider the present to be the most opportune
moment. The reason why these men can not now carry on an active
campaign is because they are insufficiently provided with funds.
If the Imperial Government can take advantage of this fact to make
them a loan and instruct them to rise simultaneously, great
commotion and disorder will surely prevail all over China. We can
intervene and easily adjust matters.
The progress of the European War warns Japan with greater urgency
of the imperative necessity of solving this most vital of
questions. The Imperial Government can not be considered as
embarking on a rash project. This opportunity will not repeat
itself for our benefit. We must avail ourselves of this chance and
under no circumstances hesitate. Why should we wait for the
spontaneous uprising of the revolutionists and malcontents? Why
should we not think out and lay down a plan beforehand? When we
examine into the form of Government in China, we must ask whether
the existing Republic is well suited to the national temperament
and well adapted to the thoughts and aspirations of the Chinese
people. From the time the Republic of China was established up to
the present moment, if what it has passed through is to be
compared to what it ought to be in the matter of administration
and unification, we find disappointment everywhere. Even the
revolutionists themselves, the very ones who first advocated the
Republican form of government, acknowledge that they have made a
mistake. The retention of the Republican form of Government in
China will be a great future obstacle in the way of a Chino-
Japanese Alliance. And why must it be so? Because, in a Republic
the fundamental principles of government as well as the social and
moral aims of the people are distinctly different from that of a
Constitutional Monarchy. Their laws and administration also
conflict. If Japan act as a guide to China and China models
herself after Japan, it will only then be possible for the two
nations to solve by mutual effort the Far East Question without
differences and disagreements. Therefore to start from the
foundation for the purpose of reconstructing the Chinese
Government, of establishing a Chino-Japanese Alliance, of
maintaining the permanent peace of the Far East and of realizing
the consummation of Japan's Imperial policy, we must take
advantage of the present opportunity to alter China's Republican
form of Government into a Constitutional Monarchy which shall
necessarily be identical, in all its details, to the
Constitutional Monarchy of Japan, and to no other. This is really
the key and first principle to be firmly held for the actual
reconstruction of the form of Government in China. If China
changes her Republican form of Government to that of a
Constitutional Monarchy, shall we, in the selection of a new
ruler, restore the Emperor Hsuan T'ung to his throne or choose the
most capable man from the Monarchists or select the most worthy
member from among the revolutionists? We think, however, that it
is advisable at present to leave this question to the exigency of
the future when the matter is brought up for decision. But we must
not lose sight of the fact that to actually put into execution
this policy of a Chino-Japanese Alliance and the transformation of
the Republic of China into a Constitutional Monarchy, is, in
reality, the fundamental principle to be adopted for the
reconstruction of China.
We shall now consider the bearing of this Defensive Alliance on
the other Powers. Needless to say, Japan and China will in no way
impair the rights and interests already acquired by the Powers. At
this moment it is of paramount importance for Japan to come to a
special understanding with Russia to define our respective spheres
in Manchuria and Mongolia so that the two countries may co-operate
with each other in the future. This means that Japan after the
acquisition of sovereign rights in South Manchuria and Inner
Mongolia will work together with Russia after her acquisition of
sovereign rights in North Manchuria and Outer Mongolia to maintain
the status quo, and endeavour by every effort to protect the peace
of the Far East. Russia, since the outbreak of the European War,
has not only laid aside all ill-feelings against Japan, but has
adopted the same attitude as her Allies and shown warm friendship
for us. No matter how we regard the Manchurian and Mongolian
Questions in the future she is anxious that we find some way of
settlement. Therefore we need not doubt but that Russia, in her
attitude towards this Chinese Question, will be able to come to an
understanding with us for mutual co-operation.
The British sphere of influence and interest in China is centred
in Tibet and the Yangtsze Valley. Therefore if Japan can come to
some satisfactory arrangement with China in regard to Tibet and
also give certain privileges to Great Britain in the Yangtsze
Valley, with an assurance to protect those privileges, no matter
how powerful Great Britain might be, she will surely not oppose
Japan's policy in regard to this Chinese Question. While this
present European War is going on Great Britain has never asked
Japan to render her assistance. That her strength will certainly
not enable her to oppose us in the future need not be doubted in
the least.
Since Great Britain and Russia will not oppose Japan's policy
towards China, it can readily be seen what attitude France will
adopt in regard to the subject. What Japan must now somewhat
reckon with is America. But America in her attitude towards us
regarding our policy towards China has already declared the
principle of maintaining China's territorial integrity and equal
opportunity and will be satisfied, if we do not impair America's
already acquired rights and privileges. We think America will also
have no cause for complaint. Nevertheless America has in the East
a naval force which can be fairly relied upon, though not
sufficiently strong to be feared. Therefore in Japan's attitude
towards America there is nothing really for us to be afraid of.
Since China's condition is such on the one hand and the Powers'
relation towards China is such on the other hand, Japan should
avail herself in the meantime of the European War to definitely
decide upon a policy towards China, the most important move being
the transformation of the Chinese Government to be followed up by
preparing for the conclusion of the Defensive Alliance. The
precipitate action on the part of our present Cabinet in acceding
to the request of Great Britain to declare war against Germany
without having definitely settled our policy towards China has no
real connection with our future negotiations with China or affect
the political condition in the Far East. Consequently all
intelligent Japanese, of every walk of life throughout the land,
are very deeply concerned about the matter.
Our Imperial Government should now definitely change our dependent
foreign policy which is being directed by others into an
independent foreign policy which shall direct others, proclaiming
the same with solemn sincerity to the world and carrying it out
with determination. If we do so, even the gods and spirits will
give way. These are important points in our policy towards China
and the result depends on how we carry them out. Can our
authorities firmly make up their mind to solve this Chinese
Question by the actual carrying out of this fundamental principle?
If they show irresolution while we have this heaven-conferred
chance and merely depend on the good will of the other Powers, we
shall eventually have greater pressure to be brought against the
Far East after the European War is over, when the present
equilibrium will be destroyed. That day will then be too late for
us to repent of our folly. We are therefore impelled by force of
circumstances to urge our authorities to a quicker sense of the
situation and to come to a determination.
The first point which leaps out of this extraordinarily frank
disquisition is that the origin of the Twenty-one Demands is at
last disclosed. A perusal of the ten articles forming the basis of
the Defensive alliance proposed by the Black Dragon Society,
allows us to understand everything that occurred in Peking in the
spring of 1915. As far back as November, 1914, it was generally
rumoured in Peking that Japan had a surprise of an extraordinary
nature in her diplomatic archives, and that it would be merely a
matter of weeks before it was sprung. Comparing this elaborate
memorandum of the Black Dragon Society with the original text of
the Twenty-one Demands it is plain that the proposed plan, having
been handed to Viscount Kato, had to be passed through the
diplomatic filters again and again until all gritty matter had
been removed, and an appearance of innocuousness given to it. It
is for this reason that the defensive alliance finally emerges as
five compact little "groups" of demands, with the vital things
directly affecting Chinese sovereignty labelled desiderata, so
that Japanese ambassadors abroad could leave very warm assurances
at every Foreign Office that there was nothing in what Japan
desired which in any way conflicted with the Treaty rights of the
Powers in China. The air of mystery which surrounded the whole
business from the 18th January to the 7th May--the day of the
ultimatum--was due to the fact that Japan attempted to translate
the conspiracy into terms of ordinary intercourse, only to find
that in spite of the "filtering" the atmosphere of plotting could
not be shaken off or the political threat adequately hidden. There
is an arresting piece of psychology in this.
The conviction expressed in the first portion of the Memorandum
that bankruptcy was the rock on which the Peking administration
must sooner or later split, and that the moment which Japan must
seize is the outbreak of insurrections, is also highly instructive
in view of what happened later. Still more subtle is the manner in
which the ultimate solution is left open: it is consistently
admitted throughout the mass of reasoning that there is no means
of knowing whether suasion or force will ultimately be necessary.
Force, however, always beckons to Japan because that is the
simplest formula. And since Japan is the self-appointed defender
of the dumb four hundred millions, her influence will be thrown on
the side of the populace in order "to usher into China a new era
of prosperity" so that China and Japan may in fact as well as in
name be brought into the most intimate and vital relations with
each other.
The object of the subsidized insurrections is also clearly stated:
it is to alter China's republican form of government into a
Constitutional Monarchy which shall necessarily be identical in
all its details to the Constitutional Monarchy of Japan and to no
other. Who the new Emperor is to be is a point left in suspense,
although we may here again recall that in 1912 in the midst of the
revolution Japan privately sounded England regarding the
advisability of lending the Manchus armed assistance, a proposal
which was immediately vetoed. But there are other things: nothing
is forgotten in the Memorandum. Russia is to be specially
placated, England to be specially negotiated with, thus
incidentally explaining Japan's recent attitude regarding the
Yangtsze Railways. Japan, released from her dependent foreign
policy, that is from a policy which is bound by conventions and
treaties which others respect, can then carry out her own plans
without fear of molestation.
And this brings us to the two last documents of the dossier--the
method of subsidizing and arranging insurrections in China when
and wherever necessary.
The first document is a detailed agreement between the
Revolutionary Party and various Japanese merchants. Trained
leaders are to be used in the provinces South of the Yellow River,
and the matter of result is so systematized that the agreement
specifies the amount of compensation to be paid for every Japanese
killed on active service; it declares that the Japanese will
deliver arms and ammunition in the districts of Jihchow in
Shantung and Haichow in Kiangsu; and it ends by stating that the
first instalment of cash, Yen 400,000, had been paid over in
accordance with the terms of the agreement. The second document is
an additional loan agreement between the interested parties
creating a special "trading" corporation, perhaps satirically
named "The Europe and Asia Trading Company," which in a
consideration of a loan of half a million yen gives Japanese prior
rights over all the mines of China.
ALLEGED SECRET AGREEMENT MADE BETWEEN SUN WEN (SUN YAT SEN) AND
THE JAPANESE
In order to preserve the peace in the Far East, it is necessary
for China and Japan to enter into an offensive and defensive
alliance whereby in case of war with any other nation or nations
Japan shall supply the military force while China shall be
responsible for the finances. It is impossible for the present
Chinese Government to work hand in hand with the Japanese
Government nor does the Japanese Government desire to co-operate
with the former. Consequently Japanese politicians and merchants
who have the peace of the Far East at heart are anxious to assist
China in her reconstruction. For this object the following
Agreement is entered into by the two parties:
1. Before an uprising is started, Terao, Okura, Tseji Karoku and
their associates shall provide the necessary funds, weapons and
military force, but the funds so provided must not exceed
1,500,000 yen and rifles not to exceed 100,000 pieces.
2. Before the uprising takes place the loan shall be temporarily
secured by 10,000,000 yen worth of bonds to be issued by Sun Wen
(Sun Yat Sen). It shall however be secured afterwards by all the
movable properties of the occupied territory. (See Article 14 of
this Agreement.)
3. The funds from the present loan and military force to be
provided are for operations in the provinces South of the Yellow
River viz: Yunnan, Kweichow, Hunan, Hupeh, Szechuan, Kiangsi,
Anhuei, Kiangsu, Chekiang, Fukien, Kwangsi and Kwangtung. If it is
intended to invade the Northern provinces North of the Yellow
River, Tseji Karoku and his associates shall participate with the
revolutionists in all deliberations connected with such
operations.
4. The Japanese volunteer force shall be allowed from the date of
their enrolment active service pay in accordance with the
regulations of the Japanese army. After the occupation of a place,
the two parties will settle the mode of rewarding the meritorious
and compensating the family of the killed, adopting the most
generous practice in vogue in China and Japan. In the case of the
killed, compensation for each soldier shall, at the least, be more
than 1,000 yen.
5. Wherever the revolutionary army might be located the Japanese
military officers accompanying these expeditions shall have the
right to advise a continuation or cessation of operations.
6. After the revolutionary army has occupied a region and
strengthened its defences, all industrial undertakings and railway
construction and the like, not mentioned in the Treaties with
other foreign Powers, shall be worked with joint capital together
with the Japanese.
7. On the establishment of a new Government in China, all Japan's
demands on China shall be recognized by the new Government as
settled and binding.
8. All Japanese Military Officers holding the rank of Captain or
higher ranks engaged by the Chinese revolutionary army shall have
the privilege of being continued in their employment with a limit
as to date and shall have the right to ask to be thus employed.
9. The loan shall be paid over in three instalments. The first
instalment will be 400,000 yen, the second instalment ... yen and
the third instalment ... yen. After the first instalment is paid
over, Okura who advances the loan shall have the right to appoint
men to supervise the expenditure of the money.
10. The Japanese shall undertake to deliver all arms and
ammunition in the Districts of Jih Chao and Haichow (in Shantung
and Kiangsu, South of Kiaochow).
11. The payment of the first instalment of the loan shall be made
not later than three days after the signing of this Agreement.
12. All the employed Japanese Military officers and Japanese
volunteers are in duty bound to obey the orders of the Commander
of the revolutionary army.
13. The Commander of the revolutionary army shall have the right
to send back to Japan those Japanese military officers and
Japanese volunteers who disobey his orders and their passage money
shall not be paid if such decision meets with the approval of
three or more of the Japanese who accompany the revolutionary
force.
14. All the commissariat departments in the occupied territory
must employ Japanese experts to co-operate in their management.
15. This Agreement takes effect immediately it is signed by the
two parties.
The foregoing fifteen articles have been discussed several times
between the two parties and signed by them in February. The first
instalment of 400,000 yen has been paid according to the terms of
this Agreement.
LOAN AGREEMENT MADE BETWEEN THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY REPRESENTED BY
CHANG YAO CHING AND HIS ASSOCIATES OF THE FIRST PART AND KAWASAKI
KULANOSKE OF THE SECOND PART
1. The Europe and Asia Trading Company undertakes to raise a loan
of 500,000 yen. After the Agreement is signed and sealed by the
contracting parties the Japanese Central Bank shall hand over 3/10
of the loan as the first instalment. When Chang Yao Ching and his
associates arrive at their proper destination the sum of 150,000
yen shall be paid over as the second instalment. When final
arrangements are made the third and last instalment of 200,000 yen
shall be paid.
2. When money is to be paid out, the Europe and Asia Trading
Company shall appoint supervisers. Responsible individuals of the
contracting parties shall jointly affix their seals (to the
checks) before money is drawn for expenditure.
3. The Europe and Asia Trading Company shall secure a volunteer
force of 150 men, only retired officers of the Japanese army to be
eligible.
4. On leaving Japan the travelling expenses and personal effects
of the volunteers shall be borne by themselves. After reaching
China, Chang Yao Ching and his associates shall give the
volunteers the pay of officers of the subordinate grade according
to the established regulations of the Japanese army.
5. If a volunteer is wounded while on duty Chang Yao Ching and his
associates shall pay him a provisional compensation of not
exceeding 1,000 yen. When wounded seriously a provisional
compensation of 5,000 yen shall be paid as well as a life pension
in accordance with the rules of the Japanese army. If a volunteer
meets with an accident, thus losing his life, an indemnity of
50,000 yen shall be paid to his family.
6. If a volunteer is not qualified for duty Chang Yao-ching and
his associates shall have the power to dismiss him. All volunteers
are subject to the orders of Chang Yao-ching and his associates
and to their command in the battlefields.
7. When volunteers are required to attack a certain selected place
it shall be their duty to do so. But the necessary expenses for
the undertaking shall be determined beforehand by both parties
after investigating into existing conditions.
8. The volunteer force shall be organized after the model of the
Japanese army. Two Japanese officers recommended by the Europe and
Asia Trading Company shall be employed.
9. The Europe and Asia Trading Company shall have the power to
dispose of the public properties in the places occupied by the
volunteer force.
10. The Europe and Asia Trading Company shall have the first
preference for working the mines in places occupied and protected
by the volunteer force.
And here ends this extraordinary collection of papers. Is fiction
mixed with fact--are these only "trial" drafts, or are they real
documents signed, sealed, and delivered? The point seems
unimportant. The thing of importance is the undoubted fact that
assembled and treated in the way we have treated them they present
a complete and arresting picture of the aims and ambitions of the
ordinary Japanese; of their desire to push home the attack to the
last gasp and so to secure the infeodation of China.