Lansing–Ishii Agreement

Lansing–Ishii Agreement, (Nov. 2, 1917), attempt to reconcile conflicting U.S. and Japanese policies in China during World War I by a public exchange of notes between the U.S. secretary of state, Robert Lansing, and Viscount Ishii Kikujirō of Japan, a special envoy to Washington. Japan promised respect for China’s independence and territorial integrity and for the U.S.-sponsored Open Door Policy (equal trading rights for all foreign nations in China); the U.S. recognized Japan’s right to protect its special interests in areas of China bordering on its own territory. Ishii later asserted that the U.S. had thus recognized the “paramount” interest of Japan in Manchuria, a claim that embarrassed the U.S. Ambiguously worded and designed to patch over differences between two wartime allies, the agreement was terminated by a further exchange of notes on March 30, 1923.