Root–Takahira Agreement
The Root–Takahira Agreement was an agreement between the United States and the Empire of Japan negotiated between United States Secretary of State Elihu Root and Japanese Ambassador to the United States Takahira Kogorō. It was a statement of long-standing policies held by both nations, much like the Taft–Katsura agreement of 1905. Both agreements acknowledged key overseas territories controlled by each nation.
Signed on November 30, 1908, the agreement consisted of an official recognition of the territorial status quo as of November 1908, affirmation of the independence and territorial integrity of China, maintenance of free trade and equal commercial opportunities, Japanese recognition of the American annexation of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Philippines and American recognition of Japan's position in northeast China. Implicit in the agreement was American acknowledgment of Japan's right to annex Korea and dominance over southern Manchuria, and Japan's acquiescence to limitations on Japanese immigration to California.
With the conclusion of the Spanish–American War, the United States had become a major power in East Asia. The American occupation of Hawaii and the Philippines, combined with aggressive economic policies in China were increasingly perceived as a threat by the Japanese government. The American government, on the other hand, was increasingly concerned by Japanese ambitions towards territorial gain at the expense of China, and with Japan's increasingly modern and powerful navy in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War.
The Agreement was credited at the time with averting mounting tensions between the United States and Japan. However, with Japan's rapprochement to Russia after 1907, and increasing [economic investment into Manchuria, the Agreement resulted in a weakened American influence over further Japanese control over China.
