Anglo-Japanese Discussions ?
The suggestion for a general discussion of Anglo- Japanese relations is, under present conditions, a bold one, but it may also be a wise one. The spokesman of the Japanese Foreign Office, repeating a previous declaration, has said that Japan is willing to negotiate, but that the question of China must not be considered in isolation from other questions in which Anglo-Japanese interests conflict. Among them is the question of security in the Pacific ; but a satisfactory settlement would seem to be impossible without the co-operation of the United States, and a more profitable end to the Naval Conference than we are promised at present. The Japanese desire, moreover, to raise commercial questions also, though not, apparently, the problem of immigration. There is a clear enough connexion between Japan's activities in China and the closing of markets, especially in the British Empire, to Japanese goods : indeed, Japan's decisive step in Manchuria was only taken after the policy of commercial expansion had been made impossible. Thus the Japanese claim that commercial questions must precede the question of China is logical and justified. If it is accepted, there will be two courses which such negotiations might take ; one in which China is made a bargaining counter, the other in which she is treated as an independent partner, in commercial discussions. This country can be no party- to the discussion of China over China's head.
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