孝道
With the
Hikawa Maru now safely nestled in Singapore Harbor, Hoshiko looked forward to meeting with Governor Thomas and with Admiral Ramsay and his wife. The welcoming salute from the British Fleet was heartening after her preceding stops in Vladivostok and Saigon. Her Imperial Majesty had never expected those stops to be pleasant but the depth of the French animosity had surprised her.
Still; if the French seemed to be looking for an incident, even they knew better than to push for one here. France might consider it profitable to prod Japan, but making affront in the face of the British Empire and the Royal Navy was a fools game indeed. Yet if Her Imperial Majesty seemed to relax just a little as her ship docked, her aides were considerably less so. Already the battlecruiser Amagi had been instructed to make for Singapore instead of the originally planned rendezvous at Melbourne. There was also some discussion that the carrier
Ryujo should be dispatched to provide a long range search capability so as to avoid a repeat of Admiral Abrail's shenanigans. Imperial intelligence and Counter-Intelligence networks were ordered to increase surveillance and monitoring of French activity across the board. Discrete inquiries were made to the British and Americans for any insights their intelligence services might have as to French designs and intentions.
But the stage was Hoshiko's. This would be her first opportunity to shape the British view of her and her nation. Despite Japan's growing military and industrial weight, she was still only a Regional power. To exercise influence beyond that region required strong allies and that meant the British Empire and the United States. The Soviet Union was a growing power but fundamentally and diametrically incompatible with Japanese interests as well as the reigning Imperial system. Nazi Germany was beginning to push its boundaries but Hoshiko distrusted the militant and fanatical tenor coming from Berlin. Also was the matter of both Fascist and Communist powers arming the forces of Nationalist China was a sore point for Japan at any rate. With the French apparently taking a confrontational stance towards Tokyo, it was absolutely imperative to maintain and strengthen relations with the British Empire.
"Today it is my great privilege of speaking to you. Not only the people of Singapore, but all the peoples of the British Empire and the world as well."
Hoshiko turned and gestured to Sir Shenton Thomas; Governor of the Straits Settlements, who was seated to the left along with Vice Admiral Ramsay and his wife, and other dignitaries and her chief aides. Captain Ozawa among them.
"I wish to extend my sincerest thanks to Governor Thomas, Admiral Ramsay, and the people of Singapore and the officers and men of the Royal Navy for their warm hospitality.
"Singapore stands as a shining gem in Asia whose prosperity is a testament to the industriousness of a free people and to the virtue of free trade. it is a prosperity that every British citizen; be he English or Malay, can be justly proud of. "
She paused for a moment.
"There are those who believe that Japan's aims are merely to replace European colonialism with a Japanese colonial empire. I could ask you to trust that neither I nor the Japanese people hold such a desire. Just as others have asked the world to believe their demands justified and their ambitions sated.
"But trust is earned. By our DEEDS Japan will show that its desire to be a strong partner and an influential member in the family of nations is not at the expense of our neighbors or our friends.
"Japan remembers those who have been our friends. We remember that it was Britain who stood by us during the war with Russia thirty years ago. We remember it was America that helped negotiate an honorable settlement to that war. And we remember that the sons of Japan fought along side the sons of Britain, France, and America in the Great War.
"Alliances are said to be transitory things by nature, built on shifting sands from need and expedience. But some ties run deeper than the fickle currents of the moment. Japan will honor these ties.
"it is oft quoted that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'... Perhaps... Much more certainly is that the enemy of our friends is our enemy.
"The Rising Sun will never set on the British Empire and side by side our peoples can forge a prosperous and secure world for our children and their children. In Heaven's name we can endeavour nothing less."