JAPAN AND THE "IRREPRESSIBLE EXPANSION" DOCTRINE
This Japanese suggestion really means, when stripped of camouflage, that Japan wants the right to use the natural resources and products of China ("have access to them" is the diplomatic euphemism) regardless of the needs of China itself. And such a condition would make China an economic and eventually a political vassal of Japan; while it would shut the Open-Door to other nations.
The character of this proposal is revealed in some of the particular instances set out by propaganda in its favor. In an interview, a member of the Japanese Diet who is now in America is quoted as protesting against China's prohibition of the export of rice as an injustice to Japan. The right of any nation to conserve its own natural resources, and especially its food supply, for the needs of its own people is one of the fundamentals of nationality. The reason to forbid the exportation of rice from China is shown in the frequent famines and their consequences. If conditions in this respect alter in time so that it is safe to allow the exportation of rice from China, the laws of commerce will soon remove the obstacles. In any event, it is a question for China to deal with without external pressure or intimidation.
To transpose this proposition, suppose the United States was asked to sign a Treaty, or was coerced to sign one by a combination of armed Powers, giving to other Powers a right of "access to" the mineral and agricultural and industrial resources and products of the nation?
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