Draft:Australian Eastern Mission
The Australian Eastern Mission was the first Australian diplomatic visit to Asia, led by deputy prime minister John Latham. The mission ran from 21 March to 14 June 1934 and concentrated on China, the Netherlands East Indies and Japan, with shorter visits to Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore and the Philippines.
The Australian Eastern Mission ran from 21 March to 14 June 1934.[1]
Latham described the mission in his official report as Australia's "first mission of a diplomatic character".[1]
However, the prime minister's "role in its conception and preparation is unclear and he played no part at all in the operation of the mission".[1]
The diplomatic goals of the mission were downplayed by the government. "The unstated goals included an intention to determine Japanese attitudes to the League [of Nations] and Manchuria direct from the horse's mouth, conceived in the hope of either returning militaristic Tokyo to the internationalism of the 1920s or, more likely, establishing her terms for a final settlement of the Manchurian question". From a defence perspective, Latham was also to examine "matters directly relevant to Australian security" - "the state of Singapore's development, to clarify aspects of Japan's behaviour in her Pacific mandates and to reassert, for Tokyo's benefit, [British] imperial defence solidarity".[1]
"Despite the expectations it excited amongst the business community, the AEM was not primarily intended to be a trade delegation, but a 'quasi-diplomatic' mission headed by a political quasi-diplomat, who would also devote due attention to defence considerations".[1]
Background[edit]
In December 1933, the Lyons Government passed the Trade Commissioners Act 1933 with the intention of appointing trade representatives to Hong Kong and Batavia (Jakarta). This was based on the precedent set by Canada.[2]
By the 1933-34 fiscal year, Japan was taking 11 percent of Australia's exports and providing 6 percent of its imports.[2]
"The origins of the Eastern Mission are obscure".[1]
There was no prior consultation with Whitehall prior to the announcement, which apparently "caused some turmoil in the Foreign Office" as detail was provided through The Times. "Latham himself later described the attitude of British diplomats to the AEM as 'apprenhensive', which serves as an adequate description of Whitehall's general attitude towards dominion forays into international relations". There was subsequently some conflict between the Foreign Office and the DEA over the itinerary and matters of protocol. There was also an attempt to have Latham chaperoned by the British ambassador to Japan, Francis Lindley.[3]
Lyons announced the mission through a public statement on 2 December 1933, following a leak to the press that had raised questions in the UK.[4] It was formally approved by cabinet on 12 December.[5] Lyons was keen to emphasise that the mission would primarily be of a diplomatic rather than commercial nature. He controlled the messaging by writing to newspaper editors requesting that the term 'trading mission' not be used and forbidding government ministers to discuss the mission with the press. This was also reflected in his choice of Latham, the external affairs minister, rather than commerce minister Frederick Stewart or trade minister Thomas White. To some extent the intent behind this was to push off Japanese concerns over the balance of trade which would otherwise be a major part of the discussion.[6]
Aims[edit]
Lyons also asked Latham to raise with Japan the issue of military activities - including naval surveys and construction of fortifications - in the South Seas Mandate, which had a maritime border with Australia's own mandate in the Territory of New Guinea.[8]
Membership and itinerary[edit]
The mission was led by Latham, who was accompanied by his wife Ella and their children. He was accompanied by public servants Arthur Moore from the Department of Trade and Customs and Eric Longfield Lloyd from the Attorney-General's Department. The official members of the delegation were accompanied by journalists Frank Murray of the Daily Telegraph and Frederic Cutlack of the Sydney Morning Herald.[9]
The mission left Sydney on 21 March 1934 and travelled upward through the Netherlands East Indies (11 days), the British colonies of Malaya and Singapore, French Indochina, British Hong Kong, the independent countries of China (14 days) and Japan (12 days), and the American-administered Commonwealth of the Philippines. The mission returned to Australia on 14 June after 85 days, 37 of which were spent in transit. The vast majority of the mission was spent in the Dutch East Indies (11 days), China (14 days) and Japan (12 days), with the other destinations "receiving only transitory attention which was often restricted to social engagements".[10]
Report[edit]
Latham submitted a report titled "The Australian Eastern Mission, 1934" to parliament on 6 July 1934, a day after he had submitted his resignation as a cabinet minister to Lyons. It brushed over the diplomatic and defence aspects of the mission, which were covered in a separate document titled "Secret Report on the International Position in the Far East" presented to Lyons on 3 July. This concluded that the AEM had accomplished its missions of spreading goodwill and clarifying the Japanese position on Manchuria, but that it had failed to steer Japan back to internationalism (re-joining the League of Nations).[11]
Three confidential reports on trade were authored by Moore and appended to the secret report.[12]
The secret report was highly critical of the state of the naval base at Singapore, which Latham described as "chaotic".[13]
Despite Japanese requests for such, Latham recommended against establishing a separate Australian diplomatic presence in Japan, preferring that Australia instead continue to be represented by the UK.[14]
Aftermath and legacy[edit]
The Eastern Mission was Australia's first diplomatic mission to Asia.[15]
There was some criticism that the mission was merely a "farewell tour" for Latham, who was widely expected to retire from politics. As much time was spent on "secret diplomacy", outside observers felt that little activity was occurring.[10]
Lyons was succeeded as external affairs minister on 12 October 1934 by George Pearce.[16]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f Bird 2008, p. 60.
- ^ a b Bird 2008, p. 62.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 67.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 63.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 64.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 65.
- ^ Kendall, Timothy (2008). Within China's Orbit?: China Through the Eyes of the Australian Parliament (PDF). Department of Parliamentary Services, Parliament of Australia. p. ?. ISBN 0975201581.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 70.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 71.
- ^ a b Bird 2008, p. 72.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 73.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 77.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 78.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 82.
- ^ Kendall 2008, p. 37.
- ^ Bird 2008, p. 76.
Sources[edit]
- Bird, David (2008). J. A. Lyons, The Tame Tasmanian: Appeasement and Rearmament in Australia, 1932–39. Australian Scholarly Publishing. ISBN 9781740971577.
- Cuffe, Honae (2021). The Genesis of a Policy: Defining and Defending Australia's National Interest in the Asia-Pacific, 1921–57 (PDF). ANU Press. ISBN 9781760464684.