Pacific Ruling Class Formation:The United States, Japan, and China

chapter 3 Pacific Ruling Class Formation: The United States, Japan, and China

Earnestly desirous to remove any cause of irritation and to insure at the same time to the commerce of all nations in China the undoubted bene- fits which should accrue from a formal recognition by the various powers claiming ‘spheres of interest’ that they shall enjoy perfect equality of treatment for their commerce and navigation within such ‘spheres’, the Government of the United States would be pleased to see His German Majesty’s Government give formal assurances, and lend its cooperation in securing like assurances from the other interested powers, that each, within its respective sphere of whatever influence – First. Will in no way interfere with any treaty port or any vested interest within any so-called ‘sphere of interest’ or leased territory it may have in China. Second.That the Chinese treaty tariff of the time being shall apply to all merchandise landed or shipped to all such ports as are within said ‘sphere of interest’ (unless they be ‘free ports’), no matter to what nationality it may belong, and that duties so leviable shall be collected by the Chinese Government. Third. That it will levy no higher harbor dues on vessels of another nationality frequenting any port in such ‘sphere’ than shall be levied on vessels of its own nationality, and no higher railroad charges over lines built, controlled, or operated within its ‘sphere’ on merchandise belonging to citizens or subjects of other nationalities transported through such ‘sphere’ than shall be levied on similar merchandise belonging to its own nationals transported over equal distances. – US Secretary of State John Hay, 6 September 1899 …

Guy picked up his file on the Red Chinese. It was the file he saved for quiet times of the day, the final nightmare file, to be brooded over slowly. Red Chinese troops are being dropped into the Baja by the fucking tens of thousands. Mobilizing, massing, growing. Little red stars on their caps. In fact there was nothing new in the file. The same old rumors and sus-

picions. They are down there in the pale sands in their padded jackets, gathered in one great silent sweep, waiting for the word. It didn’t need elaboration or update. There was something classic in the massing of the Chinese. He wanted to believe it was true. He did believe it was true. But he also knew it wasn’t. Ferrie told him it didn’t matter, true or not. The thing that mattered was the rapture of the fear of believing. It confirmed everything. It justified everything. Every violence and lie, every time he’d cheated on his wife. It allowed him to collapse inside, to melt toward awe and dread. That’s what Ferrie said. It explained his dreams. The Chinese caused his dreams. Every terror and queerness of sleep, every unspeakab- ility – it is painted in China white. –Don DeLillo, Libra ∵

Introduction: Producing a Pacific Ruling Class

At 10pm on 18 June 1964 (US Eastern Time) the first trans-Pacific submar- ine telephone cable was put into service, inaugurated with a call from US President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) to Japanese Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda.1 Johnson regaled Ikeda with a very brief, prepared speech that highlighted the deep bonds between the United States and Japan that were both signified and enabled by the new telephone link. Johnson stated, ‘The new cable between our countries is another welcome step toward transforming the Pacific from a barrier to a bridge between Asia and America’.2 An earlier and slightly more ful- some version of Johnson’s script, ultimately shelved in favour of a more concise

1 Document 408 – Telephone Remarks with Prime Minister Ikeda of Japan Inaugurating the Trans-Pacific Cable. Available at the American Presidency Project, University of Califor- nia Santa Barabara, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=26319. See, also, Press Release, Office of the White House Press Secretary, The White House, ‘Exchange of Remarks Between President Lyndon B. Johnson and His Excellency Hayato Ikeda, Prime Minister of Japan, Via the New Transpacific Telephone Cable from the Fish Room’,18 June 1964; Press Release, Office of the White House Press Secretary, 17 June 1964, National Security File, Japan, Box 250 [1 of 2], Japan, Memos, Volume II, 5/64–11/64 [1 of 2], LBJL. 2 Telegram from Rusk to American Embassy Tokyo, 17 June 1964, National Security File, Japan, Box 250 [1 of 2], Japan, Memos, Volume II, 5/64–11/64 [1 of 2], LBJL.