ABSTRACT
IN the annals of the Far East perhaps no phrase has appeared so often as the “Open Door”. Enunciated by the American statesman and diplomat, John Hay, the Open Door doctrine has served as the keystone of Far Eastern international relations and tranquillity during the last forty years. Not only China (though she has been the principal beneficiary) but all other Powers having interests in the Orient have profited by it.1 Its basic conception has been incorporated into almost all of the modern treaties concerning China, just as it has been adopted as a guiding principle in numerous commercial agreements concluded between the leading Pacific Powers. Designed to avert the dangers of international rivalry and to ensure peace and prosperity in the Orient, the Open Door doctrine has been found no less desirable and advantageous by many far-sighted Japanese.
