Time Slip Reiwa Japan

074 - American Imperialism - 2

The first action taken by the United States after formally joining the League of Nations was the proposal of a treaty restricting international arms trade. Specifically, the League of Nations Security Council would certify a country as a party to the conflict and restrict the sale of arms by member countries of the League of Nations to that party of the conflict. Furthermore, to make this effective, a Disarmament Committee under the Security Council was proposed to be established, which would conduct investigations into arms trading worldwide.

The target of the United States' initiative was primarily China. The chaotic situation in China with warlords in control and poor security conditions made it suitable for the League of Nations to designate it as a conflict party – the United States strongly asserted this within the Security Council. Naturally, China reacted strongly to this move. As China was not a member of the Security Council, they claimed through the media that this was a baseless insult from the United States and demanded a retraction and apology.

However, the United States refused these demands. The causes of recent events like the Manchurian Incident and past incidents like the Shanghai Incident were attributed by the United States to the unstable situation caused by the dominance of warlords within China. The United States' claim that not a single day of peace had been observed on Chinese soil due to constant artillery fire in the past decade was indeed true.

France also joined in support of the United States. This was because of the frustration caused by the presence of Chinese individuals (volunteers) involved in disturbances in French Indochina. Moreover, the weapons brought in by these volunteers posed a threat. In the Security Council, France delivered a speech emphasizing that controlling the export and import of weapons to China would not only ensure China's tranquility but also bring peace to neighboring countries.

Germany, alongside China, also became panicked. The sale of weapons to China constituted a significant portion of Germany's exports, and if that were to be halted, Germany's means of acquiring foreign currency would be severely limited. Furthermore, considering China as a precedent for the treaty restricting international arms trade, Germany's concern was that the subsequent actions of the G4 permanent members of the League of Nations Security Council were unpredictable and potentially arbitrary. People and countries tend to expect others to behave as they would themselves. For Germany, the treaty was seen as a tool to be used arbitrarily for their own convenience, or even to be broken when it suited them. *1

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League of Nations Security Council

In response to the proposals from the United States and France, China argued that designating them as a party to the conflict and imposing restrictions on arms sales constituted interference in their internal affairs and represented an unjust manifestation of an imperialistic spirit. Some League of Nations member countries did express agreement with this argument, as the notion of resistance against interference in internal affairs carried a certain level of rationality.

However, the reality was that it was difficult to claim stability in the Chinese territory. Although the country was united as a nation under a central government, the local militaries, aside from the center, had their own rights and were in effect warlords. Additionally, acts of terrorism *2 with indiscriminate targets, including the Chinese Communist Party's activities and attacks against the Chinese government and foreigners, were rampant. Internal security within China was far from stable, and government officials and foreigners had to have guards with them to venture outside safely.

The United States presented China's actual situation thoroughly within the League of Nations Security Council. Furthermore, neighboring countries – the Frontier Republic to the north, the Japanese Federation to the east, and the Indochinese Federation to the south – were grappling with the serious issue of refugees flowing out of China. *3 It should be noted that to the west, the recently independent East Turkestan Republic *4 existed, which had no tolerance for incoming Chinese refugees. They viewed them as potential agents of aggression against their state and were prepared to resort to military action. Because of this, the Chinese did not attempt to cross into the East Turkestan Republic as refugees.