Page:The A B C's of the Twenty-One Demands.djvu/8

 on Kiaochou Bay, in Shantung Province, and had farther extended Japanese military occupation over almost the whole area of the Province, outside the German leasehold. This was the situation when, on January 18, 1915, the Japanese Minister at Peking, acting under instructions from his Government, privately presented to the Chinese Government a series of proposals, in ﬁve groups and twenty-one articles.

The text of the original demands which follows is the oﬂicial translation into English published by the Chinese Government, and conﬁrmed officially in various ways. As a device to make the true meaning to China, and the purposes of the Japanese Government plain to American comprehension, I have in parallel columns given, on the left the actual text of the demands, and on the right a paraphrase of the demands showing with approximate accuracy how those demands would have transposed had they been addressed to the American Government, instead of to China.

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government being desirous of maintaining the general peace in Eastern Asia and further strengthening the friendly relations and good neighborhood existing between the two nations, agree to the following articles:

The Japanese Government and the Government of the United States of America being desirous of maintaining the general peace in the Paciﬁc Ocean and further strengthening the friendly relations and good neighborhood existing between the two nations, agree to the following articles: The Chinese Government engages to give full assent to all matters upon which the Japanese Government may hereafter agree with the  Government relating to the disposition of all rights, interests and concessions which Germany, by virtue of treaties or otherwise, possesses in relation to the Province of Shantung. The Government of the United States of America engages to give full assent to all matters upon which the Japanese Government may  agree with the German Government relating to the disposition of all rights, interests and property which Germany, by virtue of treaties or otherwise, possesses in relation to the State of California.