Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

– P –
PACIFIC WAR. See WORLD WAR II.
PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE • 201
PANAY INCIDENT (1937). On 12 December 1937, Japanese warplanes
attacked the American gunboat Panay and three Standard Oil
Company tankers on the Yangtze River and strafed survivors in the
water. For obvious reasons, the Panay Incident had the potential to
exacerbate existing Japanese–American tensions. Yet the most notable
feature of the Panay Incident was the conciliatory approach that
both Washington and Tokyo adopted in its aftermath.
Some months earlier, in July 1937, Japan had plunged into a
frankly aggressive war in China. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt
responded in October by publicly indicating his belief that “international
gangsters” should be segregated in much the same way as
society quarantines the carriers of dangerous and communicable diseases.
Certainly, the Panay Incident—which neatly coincided with
the much-publicized Rape of Nanjing—would have seemed to confirm
Japan’s place amongst the “international gangsters.” Nonetheless,
the United States government refused to take any action that
might accord with Roosevelt’s statement. Washington summarily refused
a British proposal—HMS Ladybird was attacked the same day
as the Panay—to impose economic sanctions, instead contenting itself
with stern demands for an apology and reparations.
Doubtlessly, the actions of the Japanese government in the aftermath
of the incident played a role in convincing Washington against
more forceful countermeasures. A Japanese navy warship almost immediately
sailed from Nanjing to help in the rescue of survivors from
the American vessels. In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Kōki Hirota told
Ambassador Joseph Grew of his dismay and regret at the incident.
Japan’s ambassador to Washington, Hiroshi Saitō, admitted to the
American public that Japan was entirely in the wrong and offered
apologies.
PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE. In the aftermath of World War I, the
victorious allies held the Paris Peace Conference from January to
June 1919 to decide the terms of peace to be accorded Germany. This