jan 1, 1908 - Root-Takahira Agreement

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A 1908 agreement between the United States and Japan confirming principles of free oceanic commerce and recognizing Japan’s authority over Manchuria.

Though contemptuous of other Asians, Roosevelt respected the Japanese, whom he called “a wonderful and civilized people.” More important, he understood Japan’s rising military might and aligned himself with the mighty. The United States approved Japan’s “protectorate” over Korea in 1905 and, six years later, its seizure of full control. With Japan asserting harsh authority over Manchuria, energetic Chinese diplomat Yüan Shih-k’ai tried to encourage the United States to intervene. But Roosevelt reviewed America’s weak position in the Pacific and declined. He conceded that Japan had “a paramount interest in what surrounds the Yellow Sea.” In 1908, the United States and Japan signed the Root-Takahira Agreement, confirming principles of free oceanic commerce and recognizing Japan’s authority over Manchuria


William Howard Taft entered the White House in 1909 convinced that the United States had been shortchanged in Asia. In comparison with Roosevelt, Taft pressed for a larger role for American investors, especially in Chinese railroad construction. Eager to promote U.S. business interests abroad, he hoped that infusions of American capital would offset Japanese power. When the Chinese Revolution of 1911 toppled the Manchu dynasty, Taft supported the victorious Nationalists, who wanted to modernize their country and liberate it from Japanese domination. The United States had entangled itself in China and entered a long-term rivalry with Japan for power in the Pacific, a competition that would culminate thirty years later in World War II.

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