Vague agreements and competing interests in China

The Lansing-Ishii Agreement of 1917 used language broad enough for both governments to accept while leaving their competing ambitions in China unresolved. In this interpretation, it accommodated American and Japanese interests at China's expense. Subsequent treaty diplomacy included the Nine-Power Treaty and declarations of Chinese sovereignty, alongside continuing claims to special interests in China. The Lansing-Ishii Agreement was abrogated in 1923. China objected to these arrangements but lacked the power to make its objections effective. American opposition to Japanese policy combined moral outrage with concern for American interests in China. A similarly ambiguous bargain could give both powers a reason to step back from the December 1941 crisis.