Who is stimson doctrine

Later known as the Stimson Doctrine, or sometimes the Hoover-Stimson Doctrine, the notes read in part as follows: [T]he American Government deems it to be its duty to notify both the Imperial Japanese Government and the Government of the Chinese Republic that it cannot admit the legality of any situation de facto nor does it intend to recognize any treaty or agreement entered into between those Governments, or agents thereof, which may impair the treaty rights of the United States or its citizens in China, including those which relate to the sovereignty, the independence, or the territorial and administrative integrity of the Republic of China, or to the international policy relative to China, commonly known as the open door policy….

Stimson had stated that the United States would not recognize any changes made in China that would curtail American treaty rights in the area and that the " open door " must be maintained. In public international law, the doctrine that an aggressor cannot acquire territory by conquest alone.

The doctrine was enunciated in , when Japanese troops took over Manchuria, until then part of China, and set up the puppet state of Manchukuo. Stimson, announced that his government would not recognize any territorial changes brought about by force alone.

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The Japanese response was twofold. Diplomatically, Japan again claimed to be maintaining the spirit of the Kellogg Pact. Militarily, Japan flaunted the calls from the League and the United States for a peaceful resolution by extending the war to Shanghai, where fighting broke out in January, raising fears for the safety of a large foreign population there.

In frustration, Stimson sent a lengthy letter to Sen. William Borah, Republican isolationist and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which he painstakingly detailed the evolution of the Open Door policy and the international agreements reached at Washington a decade earlier. The letter, made public by Stimson, was a precise summation of American policy to that time. Please deliver to the Foreign Office on behalf of your Government as soon as possible the following note:.

With the recent military operations about Chinchow, the last remaining administrative authority of the Government of the Chinese Republic in South Manchuria, as it existed prior to September 18th, , has been destroyed. The American Government continues confident that the work of the neutral commission recently authorized by the Council of the League of Nations will facilitate an ultimate solution of the difficulties sow existing between China and Japan.

But in view of the present situation and of its own rights and obligations therein, the American Government deems it to be its duty to notify both the Imperial Japanese Government and the Government of the Chinese Republic that it cannot admit the legality of any situation de facto nor does it intend to recognize any treaty or agreement entered into between those Governments, or agents thereof, which may impair the treaty rights of the United States or its citizens in China, including those which relate to the sovereignty, the independence, or the territorial and administrative integrity of the Republic of China, or to the international policy relative to China, commonly known as the open door policy; and that it does not intend to recognize any situation, treaty or agreement which may be brought about by means contrary to the covenants and obligations of the Pact of Paris of August 27, , to which Treaty both China and Japan, as well as the United States, are parties.

I have just received the reply of the Japanese Government which reads as follows:. They are glad to receive this additional assurance of the fact. Insofar as they can secure it, the policy of the open door will always be maintained in Manchuria, as in China proper. They take note of the statement by the Government of the United States that the latter cannot admit the legality of matters which might impair the treaty rights of the United States or its citizens or which might be brought about by means contrary to the [Kellogg-Briand] treaty of 27 August, It might be the subject of an academic doubt whether in a given case the impropriety of means necessarily and always voids the ends secured; but as Japan has no intention of adopting improper means, that question does not practically arise.

It may be added that the treaties which relate to China must necessarily be applied with due regard to the state of affairs from time to time prevailing in that country, and that the present unsettled and distracted state of China is not what was in the contemplation of the High Contracting Parties at the time of the Treaty of Washington. It was certainly not satisfactory then; but it did not display that disunion and those antagonisms which it does today.

This cannot affect the binding character or the stipulations of treaties; but it may in material respects modify their application, since they must necessarily be applied with reference to the state of facts as they exist.

My Government desire further to point out that any replacement which has occurred in the personnel of the administration of Manchuria has been the necessary act of the local population. Even in cases of hostile occupation-which this was not-it is customary for the local officials to remain in the exercise of their functions. In the present case they for the most part fled or resigned; it was their own behaviour which was calculated to destroy the working of the apparatus of government.

The Japanese Government cannot think that the Chinese people, unlike all others, are destitute of the power of self-determination and of organizing themselves in order to secure civilized conditions when deserted by the existing officials.

While it need not be repeated that Japan entertains in Manchuria no territorial aims or ambitions, yet, as Your Excellency knows, the welfare and safety of Manchuria and its accessibility for general trade are matters of the deepest interest and of quite extraordinary importance to the Japanese people.

Secretary of State, Henry Stimson, was placed in the tough position by the international community to do something about the Japanese takeover of China. In , this came to a head as the Japanese forces seized complete control of all of Manchuria in what is known as the Mukden Incident.

The Japanese military blamed the Chinese for a small explosion that took place on the Manchurian railway and used that incident to move further into Manchuria with full force.

As news of the incident spread to the international governments there was an immediate outcry to the United States for assistance. The fear was that the Japanese were gaining too much control and that they needed to be stopped. Hoping that being isolated by the international community would place a burden upon the Japanese government, the Stimson Doctrine was drafted.