, 1903) by the Japanese Government to its representative
at St. Petersburg, instructing him to open negotiations:

"The recent conduct of Russia in making new demands at Peking and
tightening her hold upon Manchuria has led the Imperial Government to
believe that she must have abandoned her intention of retiring from
that province. At the same time, her increased activity upon the Korean
frontier is such as to raise doubts as to the limits of her ambition.
The unconditional and permanent occupation of Manchuria by Russia would
create a state of things prejudicial to the security and interests of
Japan. The principle of equal opportunity (the open door) would thereby
be annulled, and the territorial integrity of China impaired. There is,
however, a still more serious consideration for the Japanese Government.
If Russia were established on the flank of Korea she would constantly
menace the separate existence of that Empire, or at least exercise in
it a predominant influence; and as Japan considers Korea an important
outpost in her line of defence, she regards its independence as
absolutely essential to her own repose and safety. Moreover, the
political as well as commercial and industrial interests and influence
which Japan possesses in Korea are paramount over those of other Powers;
she cannot, having regard to her own security, consent to surrender them
to, or share them with, another Power."

In accordance with this view of the situation the Japanese Government
informed Count Lamsdorff that, as it desired to remove from the
relations of the two Empires every cause of future misunderstanding,
it would be glad to enter with the Imperial Russian Government upon an
examination of the condition of affairs in the Far East, with a view to
defining the respective special interests of the two countries in those
regions.

Though Count Lamsdorff accepted the proposal with apparent cordiality
and professed to regard it as a means of preventing any outsider from
sowing the seeds of discord between the two countries, the idea of
a general discussion was not at all welcome. Careful definition of
respective interests was the last thing the Russian Government desired.
Its policy was to keep the whole situation in a haze until it had
consolidated its position in Manchuria and on the Korean frontier
to such an extent that it could dictate its own terms in any future
arrangement. It could not, however, consistently with its oft-repe