Statement of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Shodahito.
Vladivostock, the Second Day of the Seventh Month of the Eighth year of the Emperor Taisho.
On the 29th day of the Sixth month of this year, the Kingdom of Nordmark has declared war on the Republic of Argentina. While it seems to be a matter between the Kingdom of Nordmark and the Republic of Argentina at this moment, I fear that this may escalate into something bigger if it is not stopped right now. It is important to let words solve the problems between the Kingdom of Nordmark and the Republic of Argentina, not bullets.
Nordmark made many accusations. It appears to be quite obvious that Argentina has been hostile toward the Kingdom of Nordmark; It appears to be quite obvious that Argentina has forcefully annexed the island of South Georgia, which was recently handed over to Nordmark by Great Britain; It appears to be quite obvious that Argentina has taken captive the Nordmark Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Villa Nueva and the diplomatic staff.
However the claims of Nordmark of Argentina’s involvement in the Death of King Gustav V and his wife, Queen Victoria, or the disappearance of Prince Carl Philipp are not clear. Nordmark claims that what happened was no accident, but a deliberate action. However, we have been shown no evidence to support this theory yet. So as long as no evidence is shown to the other nations, Japan will consider the tragic events that killed King Gustav V and Queen Victoria to be just an accident (until proven otherwise), and that Prince Carl Philipp has joined up with our four Kongo class Battlecruisers and their escort ships (until proven otherwise).
As far as the Empire of Japan is concerned, what happened could have been similar to what happened on the 22nd day of the second month at Karljohansvern Naval Station, only with far more serious results due to the fact that “the destroyers were fully loaded, with all munitions at 125 per cent of capacity, including a complement of depth charges”. It should also be noted that the Urho Saanio and Torstein Arctander were among the newest of destroyers for the Navy of Nordmark, so such weapons, as a test, could have been installed before the Karljohansvern Incident.
It should be noted that, in order to ensure the safety of trade between Japan and Argentine, the following steps have been taken:
- Any Argentine vessel, be it a merchant ship or a ship of war, that sails in Japanese territorial waters, will be protected by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
- Any Argentine vessel, be it a merchant ship or a ship of war, that sails outside the Japanese territorial waters is allowed to enter Japanese territorial waters to fall under the same protection as those already sailing in the Japanese territorial waters.
- Any Argentine merchant vessel flying the Imperial colors outside Japanese territorial waters will be considered a Japanese merchant vessel.
- Any actions by another nation against Argentine vessels inside Japanese territorial waters or against Argentine vessels flying the Imperial colors will be considered as an action against Japan and will be considered to be a declaration of war.
- Japanese territorial waters include the areas around the Japanese mandates of the Chosen, the Formosa, and the Mikuroniisia territories, the latter territory with exception of the area around the island Guam.
- Any actions by another nation against a Japanese vessel, be it a merchant ship or a ship of war, sailing in Argentine territorial waters will be considered to be a declaration of war.
The Empire of Japan requests the following from the Kingdom of Nordmark:
- The immediate release of evidence that support their claims of the Republic of Argentina’s involvement in the deaths of King Gustav V and Queen Victoria and the disappearance of Prince Carl Philipp.
- Call off all its war activities against the Republic of Argentina.
If the Kingdom of Nordmark has such evidence, it should present the evidence during the Council Meeting as soon as possible.
Should the Kingdom of Nordmark succeed to convince the council that the Republic of Argentina was involved in the deaths of King Gustav V and Queen Victoria and the disappearance of Prince Carl Philipp, the Empire of Japan will request the following from the Republic of Argentina:
- Cease all aggression against the Kingdom of Nordmark.
- Withdraw its forces from the island of South Georgia and any other territory claimed by the Kingdom of Nordmark on which forces of the Republic of Argentina are present.
- Release all Nordmark citizens held in captivity, in custody, or in detention.
- Arrest all persons involved in the King Gustav V/Queen Victoria case and the Prince Carl Philipp case. All these persons should be handed over to the Authorities of the Kingdom of Nordmark.
If the Republic of Argentina fails to comply with these demands in 7 days, all Argentine vessels must leave the Japanese territorial waters and/or remove the Imperial colors within 24 hours. Further actions will be taken if Argentine vessels are still in Japanese waters after 24 hours.
Signed
His Imperial Majesty, the Taisho Emperor
-----------------------------------Shodahito.
(OOC: with "request", Shodahito actually means "demand" but he doesn't want those particular parts to sound too aggressive)