Conclusion

Abstract

This work has examined Anglo-Japanese interaction in Shanghai during the period from 1925 to 1931 and demonstrated that the situation and Anglo-Japanese interaction in Shanghai were more complicated than conventionally believed. During the first half of the period studied, it was Britain that wanted to act jointly with Japan because Chinese hatred was concentrated on her, and because her military power in East Asia was insufficient due to the mood of pacifism and the policy of restricting defence expenditure back home in Britain since 1919. Compared with the possibility of losing all her interests in Shanghai, the price of Anglo-Japanese co-operation, which would probably have been paid in the field of economic competition by traders, seemed reasonable. However, Japanese opinions were not united. While Japanese businessmen both in Shanghai and in Japan were eager to cooperate and show their goodwill to the British, Shidehara and the Japanese Foreign Ministry were unwilling to do anything which might prevent Japan’s economic expansion from realization. Since the Japanese had not been molested, Shidehara thought that he should not take any steps which might make Sino-Japanese relations worse.