Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

U.S. Military Plans and Preparations 95
China. Subject to further discussion, she would station a few on
the northern border
for protection against the entry of communistic elements from
Outer Mongolia. . . . Th e troops which would be maintained for
resistance against communistic activities would not under any
circumstances interfere in Chinese internal aff airs.
Japan then presented a draft proposal suggesting that
Roosevelt ask China to negotiate a peace treaty with Japan based
on the principles of: 36 (1) Neighborly friendship; (2) Joint defense
against communism; and (3) Economic cooperation.
As befi tting an agreement between two sovereign nations,
Japan further asserted that these principles implied: (1) Mutual
respect of sovereignty and territories; (2) Mutual respect for the
inherent characteristics of each nation cooperating as good neighbors
and forming a Far Eastern nucleus contributing to world
peace; (3) Withdrawal of Japanese troops from Chinese territory
in accordance with an agreement to be concluded between
Japan and China; (4) No annexation, no indemnities; and (5)
Independence of Manchoukuo. 37
Prompted by her desire for reliable sources of raw materials
and given the uncertainty created by the termination of her commercial
treaty with the United States, Japan’s draft proposal stated
further that if the United States and Japan reached agreement on
the basis of these principles, then they would cooperate in providing
each other with access to “supplies of natural resources
(such as oil, rubber, tin, nickel) which each country needs.” 38
36 Department of State, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United
States: Japan, 1931–1941 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Offi ce, 1943), vol. 2, pp. 444–45, 448–49.
37 Ibid., p. 423.
38 Ibid., p. 462.