Prime Minister Katsura Taro In the years that followed, however, tensions rose over Japanese actions in northeast China and immigration to the United States. In 1905, the Japanese started to establish more formal control over South Manchuria by forcing China to give Japan ownership rights to the South Manchurian Railway. The Japanese used this opening to make further inroads into northeast China, causing the Roosevelt Administration concern that this violated the ideals of free enterprise and the preservation of China’s territorial integrity. Simultaneously, leading Japanese officials expressed frustration with the treatment of Japanese immigrants in the United States. A U.S.-Japanese treaty signed in 1894 had guaranteed the Japanese the right to immigrate to the United States, and to enjoy the same rights in the country as U.S. citizens. In 1906, however, the San Francisco Board of Education enacted a measure to send Japanese and Chinese children to segregated schools. The Government of Japan was outraged by this policy, claiming that it violated the 1894 treaty. In a series of notes exchanged between late 1907 and early 1908, known collectively as the Gentlemen’s Agreement, the U.S. Government agreed to pressure the San Francisco authorities to withdraw the measure, and the Japanese Government promised to restrict the immigration of laborers to the United States.
Secretary of State Elihu Root This series of agreements still did not resolve all of the outstanding issues. U.S. treatment of Japanese residents continued to cause tension between the two nations. The Alien Land Act of 1913, for example, barred Japanese from owning or leasing land for longer than three years and adversely affected U.S.-Japanese relations in the years leading up to World War I. Economic competition in China, which the United States feared would result in increasing Japanese control, was another issue that increased tensions between the two nations. In 1915, the Japanese issued its “Twenty-One Demands” of China, in which it asked that China recognize its territorial claims, prevent other powers from obtaining new concessions along its coast, and take a series of actions designed to benefit the Japanese economically. China turned to the United States for assistance, and U.S. officials responded with a declaration that they would not recognize any agreement that threatened the Open Door. Although this was consistent with past policies, this announcement was of little use to the Chinese. However, President Woodrow Wilson was not willing to take a stronger stand given his need for assistance in protecting U.S. interests in Asia, addressing the growing conflict in Europe, and managing racial issues in California.
Secretary of State Robert Lansing Japan and the United States clashed again during the League of Nations negotiations in 1919. The United States refused to accept the Japanese request for a racial equality clause or an admission of the equality of the nations. In addition, the Versailles Treaty granted Japan control over valuable German concessions in Shandong, which led to an outcry in China. This coupled with the growing fear of a militant Japan, contributed to the defeat of the League Covenant in the U.S. Senate. The persistent issues preventing accommodation continued to be racial equality (especially with regard to the treatment of Japanese immigrants in the United States) and differences in how to address expansion in Asia. In spite of the many efforts to reach agreements on these points, by the early 1920s Japan and the United States were again at odds.
