Suika
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The idea was part of a proposal in 1932...
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/manchuria.htm
Essentially, it was...
- cessation of all acts of violence on both sides;
- no further preparation for hostilities; (rejected by JPN)
- withdrawal of both Chinese and Japanese combatants in the Shanghai area;
- protection of the International Settlement at Shanghai by the establishment of neutral ones;
- prompt negotiations to settle all outstanding controversies between Japan and China with the aid of neutral observers or participants. (rejected by JPN)
China accepted all five points. JPN rejected 2 and 5. If Point 5 was accepted, the US was willing to reconsider China's administrative position regarding Manchuria. The intention was pretty much tit-for-tat, JPN to stop expansion plans on mainland China in return for Manchuria as JPNese controlled territory.
1932 is a long way back... In the negotiations of 1941, the US was not willing to avoid war, even if Japan canceled its alliance with Germany and left Indochina and parts of China.
Going to 1932 requires a much broader outlook.
On point 5, would China (Chiang Kai-chek) agree with Japan keeping Manchuria? Seems like a contradiction thus a meaningless point that makes the US appear as righteous.
Of course the invasion of Manchuria was aggression. Japan didn't have to. But is that the whole picture or is it just America victor's narrative that has persisted for so long? Its the latter.
Nine-Power treaty? Guess who's not in there. Without the Soviet Union, it is kind of pointless. The Comintern was established in 1919 and had a grand vision to spread communism all over the world. And it started to spread in China in the early 1920s. Chinese Communists and the KMT would split in 1927 but the communists remained alive and KMT was unable to finish them off. Why should Japan just set back and do nothing with civil war going on in China that included the risk of the whole country turning communist? Well gee, it actually happened in our historical timeline... resulting in Korean War and Vietnam War, and China and Russia are still buddies today.
Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928? What about the attack on Manchuria in 1929? Wasn't Japan. Was the Soviet Union.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_conflict_(1929)
What if it would happen again and larger later? Japan once had Vladivostok in its hands during the intervention of the Soviet Union in 1922 but were pressured to give it up. Yeah today, Russia borders DPRK because of Vladivostok. Its like all these treaties were design to keep Japan weak and at a never ending security confrontation. Should Japan make gains for itself, then it would be able to rid itself of the never ending security threat. Japan had the strength to do it itself, but always pressured to not exceed a certain amount. Although some westerners did recognize that Japan in Manchuria meant it was safe from turning communists. Clearly FDR didn't care for that and was soft for the Soviet Union, even if lead by a man like Stalin who was easily worse than anything Imperial japan did.
So then of course there were the naval treaties that were also designed to keep Japan limited. Everyone knew at the time of the making of the naval treaties that the US had greater production and resources. Why should they get a larger naval fleet? The numbers in the treaty meant that Japan would never have the ship tonnage to go on the offensive vs the US but the numbers still meant the US could go on the offensive vs Japan. No wonder some Japanese took a "militant nationalist" stance and were against what was agreed. Nevermind the whole time, the US was breaking Japanese diplomatic codes.
If the US wanted to hold such a high and mighty position of righteousness, they should have left the Philippines. Or not even that, they could have beat Spain up and just not bother with colonizing the Philippines at all.
The US knocked out "evil Japan" and what was the result. Communism spread all over the place. DPRK, CCP, Vietnam, all proxies for the SU. Japan never wanted to have a war with the US. Japan never wanted to attack and occupy Hawaii, Alaska, or California. But instead, the US went all the way and went for total unconditional surrender. Imperial Japan was better in human rights, democracy, and free speech then the monstrosities that came in the wake of the demise of Imperial Japan (DPRK, CCP, the SU). So take that victors narrative induced ignorant based high and mighty justice feeling and flush it.
It is all old history now. Japan played its hand at that time. Played well or played poorly, others can be the judge. It may still have been a mistake for Japan to have gone into Manchuria but more of a strategic mistake. Not as some sort of vile "aggressive" act during a time when other countries had their big empires. But now Japan has to stick with the US-Japan alliance. But if the US had a care to not rock the boat with the alliance, quit the high and mighty BS.