military authorities are striving to subjugate the Chinese economy under Japanese domination," that "the Japanese economic policy aims at the control of all the important industries of North and Middle China," that "all public or semi-public installations, have been seized by the Japanese military authorities," that "the greater part of factories of private industries have been destroyed," and that machines were "taken apart so far as they were sti^l useful and the rest have been sent to Japan as scrap metal." "Usually this happened," it was charged, "in such a way that one day Japanese engineers, most of the time with military escort, appeared, hoisted the Japanese flag and put up signs on which it was announced that the factory wad now a Japanese enter¬prise." ^ The Japanese Government conceded that Germany was entitled to preferential treatment but refused to commit itself in the form of a definite treaty. An adjustment was ultimately reached in which Japan agreed to a de facto improvement in prac¬tice without written obligation.^ No higher degree of proof of 53See Note 51. 54(a) Exhibit 596, TP 6,623. (b) Exhibit 580, TP 6,526. In a report of a conversation between Von Ribbentrop and Foreign Minister MATSUOKA, made in Berlin on 29 March 1941, it is stated: "MATSUOKA replied that she needed cooperation with Germany for her own reconstruction and for the develop¬ment of China. He had already some time ago given written instructions to *he Japanese missions in China to grant preferential treatment to German and Italian economic interests, similar to what was already carried out in Manchukuo and North China. Japan was not in a position to develop the extensive areas in China with¬out the assistance of German technical science and German enterprise. Outwardly she will, of course, declare the open door policy, in actual fact, however, she will concede preferential treatment to Germany and Italy."