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Root Takahira Agreement

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Root Takahira Agreement

The agreement seemed to indicate cordial relations between the two emerging powers. However, some saw him as a “horse of harassment” meant to gauge Japanese receptivity to U.S. interests in Asia. Critics have attacked President Roosevelt for sacrificing Chinese interests in Manchuria and Korea in favor of improving relations with Japan. Others feared that the agreement would not include any measures to guarantee China`s independence and territorial integrity. Over time, the conflicting targets between the United States and Japan in the Pacific led to a war between the two countries. The final agreement reiterated a number of provisions that had already been dealt with in other “gentlemen`s agreements” between the two powers (including the Taft-Katsura Agreement of 1905). The Root-TAKAHIRA Agreement, an agreement reached on November 30, 1908 by U.S. Foreign Minister Elihu Root and Japanese Ambassador Baron Kogoro Takahira. She expressed the wish of both governments to develop their trade in the Pacific; its intention to uphold the open door policy and China`s independence and integrity; His determination to respect the territorial possessions of the other in the Pacific; and their willingness to communicate with each other when these principles are threatened.

(A previous proposal for such an agreement in October 1907 had been rejected by the Japanese government, but the proposal was renewed when Count Katsura became Prime Minister of Japan.) The proposal has been hailed by the U.S. as helpful in appeasing the widely held belief that a war between the two countries is imminent, a belief inspired by disputes over Japanese immigration, anti-Japanese measures in California, and the high-profile voyage of the U.S. fleet across the Pacific. The deal was greeted enthusiastically in European capitals, but did not confess to the Chinese, who feared it would strengthen Japan`s position in China. Through the agreement, the United States recognized Japanese supremacy in Manchuria, while Japan conceded in exchange America`s colonial rule over the Philippines. . . .

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