Japanese Expansion Quotes
This resolution was bad enough for its overt racism. Ironically, the major victims of Japanese aggression have been Asians—China, Korea, Manchuria, and others. “White” empires had economic interests in throughout Asia and this was what Britten and many others were concerned with protecting. This quotation is important for another reason. At the very moment Britton introduced the resolution, Charles Evans Hughes our Secretary of State was welcoming a new, very high level ambassador to Washington. The administration had decided on a negotiating initiative and Britton and other Congressmen cut the legs out from under the administrations diplomatic efforts. It was particularly bad because one of the Japanese complaints about America and other white nations was their racism and discrimination against Asians. Congress undermining Administration diplomatic efforts has an all too frequent history in America.
Some historians believe that with this quotation, Japan perceived that it had a “green light” from America to dominate Asia. It was further reinforced when Roosevelt later refused to object or intervene when Japan seized control of Korea.
President Roosevelt and Secretary of state Cordell hull felt that a Japanese invasion of the Philippines was a likelihood. The army chief of staff disagreed citing his intelligence reports. Japan of course attacked Pearl Harbor and then invaded the Philippines. Marshall, perhaps America’s greatest military administrator, turned out to be wrong while the President and Secretary of State proved more accurate in their assesment of the Japanese threat. This quotation stands as a testament to the fact that the intelligence fiascoes of the Iraq war are not unique in American military history.
Essentially this writer and intelligence operative had discerned the Japanese reason for its expansionism and wrote about it as early as 1921. The issue really became contentious and culminated in the Japanese surprise attack on Pearly Harbor in WWII, when the U. S. would not let them take over the other countries in Asia. When Bland wrote this, Japan had already annexed Korea. See {613106}. After Japan’s defeat in WWII the solved their problem very easily. They practiced birth control and in the early 21st century Japan had a negative population growth.
