卢沟桥事变爆发后,英国因其自身在远东实力不足,迫切希望与美国采取联合外交行动,抑制日本。美国在远东利益较少,且受国内孤立主义影响,只同意英美各自对日采取平行的外交行动。以下一组外交函电①反映了中日战争爆发初期英美不同政策、立场以及英国在中国、日本之间交涉的大致情况。 After the Lugouqiao Incident broke out, Britain, due to its own lack of strength in the Far East, desperately wants to take joint diplomatic actions with the United States to contain Japan. The United States has less interests in the Far East and is subject to domestic isolationism and only agrees with the separate diplomatic actions taken by Britain and the United States against Japan. The following set of diplomatic messages (1) reflects the different Anglo-American policies and positions at the outset of the Sino-Japanese War and the general situation of the British negotiations between China and Japan.