Page "Fumimaro Konoe" Paragraph 34

Konoe and Matsuoka based their foreign policy on a document that had been drawn up by the Army.

Army theorists saw Japan standing on the verge of a new world.

To secure its place, it must create a New Order in Greater East Asia, based on the proper alignment of Japan-Manchukuo-China.

Dubbing this the " Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere ", Matsuoka publicly announced that this should also include Indochina ( nominally French ) and the East Indies ( nominally Dutch ).

Within the government, it was agreed that Japan would try to secure its position in China, defuse the conflict with the Soviet Union, move troops into Indochina, and prepare for a military response from Britain and possibly the United States.