Japan disapproved British attitude at the naval conference at Geneva according to the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Handelsblad morning edition dated 24 July 1927

The correspondent of the British newspaper Times at Tokyo reported that the comments in the Japanese press dealing with the British attitude at Geneva (1) showed clearly that the United Kingdom obstructed the discussions at the conference with her exceptional demands. The newspaper Nichi-Nichi of Tokyo thought that this conference made clear to the common public that the United States and the England were battling for naval supremacy. The newspaper Asahi of Osaka compared the US navy with the former German Imperial navy as a stand in the way for the Royal British navy. The so-called English-Japanese comparison which was to solve the cruiser-issue was not warmly received in Japan while it forced Japanese new building. The correspondent added that these Japanese opinions were caused by the wish of the Japanese politicians to obtain the status quo.

Note
1. The Geneva Naval Conference held between 20 June and 4 August 1927 was intended to extend the naval limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty further more, namely also for cruisers, destroyers or submarines. The American president Calvin Coolidge invited England, Japan, France and Italy for a conference but the latter two countries refused. In fact the conference was a failure. The points of view of the USA and England were contrary with England needing a large cruiser force to keep open and protect the sea lanes within her empire. Japan demanded to be allowed to have at least 70% of the American cruiser force.