DRAFT PEACE TREATY WITH JAPAN (Hansard, 12 July 1951)

§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (LORD HENDERSON)

My Lords, it may be convenient if I intervene, with the permission of the House, to repeat to your Lordships a Statement which is being made in another place by my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary on the draft Peace Treaty with Japan. The Statement reads as follows:

"I have to inform the House that the text of a draft Peace Treaty with Japan, which is being released simultaneously in London and Washington, has been published as a White Paper, of which copies are available in the Vote Office.

"Following upon the talks which took place in London with Mr. Dulles early in June on the main provisions of the Treaty, discussions continued through the diplomatic channel on various points in the draft, and Commonwealth Governments were kept informed of these exchanges. Last week the text was communicated jointly by United Kingdom and United States representatives in Washington to other Governments principally concerned in the war against Japan, and the comments of these Governments have been invited. The text was not, however, communicated either to the Nationalist Government or to the Central People's Government of China. The text will also be communicated to other Powers who were at war with Japan. At a later stage I understand that it is the intention of the United States Government to issue invitations for the signature of the Treaty with Japan to take place in San Francisco in the first days of September.

"A Peace Treaty with Japan is now of great importance. Our efforts since 1947 to make peace with Japan have failed because of disagreement between 847 the Powers concerned on one point—whether or not the Great Powers should have a veto at the Peace Conference. Six years after Japan's acceptance of our surrender terms, which she has scrupulously carried out, we do not consider that we should continue to postpone a Peace Treaty which would materially aid a settlement in the Far East, simply because a small minority are not prepared to negotiate a Treaty unless the veto is retained. Conversations on the Japanese Peace Treaty therefore began in Washington almost a year ago. Japan has every reason to expect a settlement, and if it should be withheld after ten months of negotiation this would have a deplorable political effect not only in Japan but, I believe, throughout Asia.

"A further difficulty has been the question of the Government entitled to commit the Chinese people to a Peace Treaty with Japan. This is a difficulty which has not been resolved. If a Treaty is not to be indefinitely delayed, the only alternative has seemed to us to be that China should not be invited to sign the present Treaty. The interests of the Chinese people are, however, safeguarded by the provisions in the draft which is being published to-day. Once the Treaty has been signed and Japan becomes responsible for her own foreign relations, it will be for Japan herself to decide her future relations with China.

"As to the security aspects of the Treaty, Japan accepts the obligation of Article 2 of the Charter of the United Nations. At the same time she retains the right of self-defence implicit in Article 51 of the Charter. The defence of Japan against aggression is expected to be assured by an arrangement consistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations between Japan and the United States. There are in addition, as the House is aware, special arrangements contemplated in a Pact to be concluded between Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

"There is one other question connected with the Treaty which I know causes anxiety in this country. My 848 right honourable friend the President of the Board of Trade will be referring to certain economic aspects of the draft Treaty in a Written Answer to a Question by the honourable member for Renfrew West to-day. With her rapidly increasing population, Japan is under the strongest economic compulsion to develop her exports. On March 19, my right honourable friend who was then President of the Board of Trade told the House that His Majesty's Government at present extends mostfavoured-nation treatment to Japanese trade in goods but is not prepared to enter into any formal undertaking to continue to do so. We feel that we must for the present retain our freedom to protect our economy, if necessary, against abnormal and injurious competition. We believe, however, that in an expanding world economy it should be possible for Japan to achieve a reasonable standard of living for her people without menacing that of other countries, and at the same time to help to satisfy the growing need of consumers in the under-developed countries. And we believe that those objectives can be greatly assisted by consultations between the industrial interests in the various countries concerned on the lines of the Anglo-American Cotton Textile Mission to Japan in 1950.

"I do not propose to make any further detailed comment on the draft Treaty until right honourable and honourable Members have had an opportunity to study the text."

That is the Statement made by my right honourable friend in another place, and I would only add that the reference to right honourable and honourable Members obviously also means, in this House, noble Lords.