The Imperial Government hereby again offer their advice and hope
that the Chinese Government, upon this advice, will give a
satisfactory reply by 6 o'clock P.M. on the 9th day of May. It is
hereby declared that if no satisfactory reply is received before or
at the specified time, the Imperial Government will take steps they
may deem necessary.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Accompanying Ultimatum delivered to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
by the Japanese Minister, May 7th, 1915.

1. With the exception of the question of Fukien to be arranged by an
exchange of notes, the five articles postponed for later negotiation
refer to (a) the employment of advisers, (b) the establishment of
schools and hospitals, (c) the railway concessions in South China,
(d) the supply of arms and ammunition and the establishment of
arsenals and (e) right of missionary propaganda.

2. The acceptance by the Chinese Government of the article relating
to Fukien may be either in the form as proposed by the Japanese
Minister on the 26th of April or in that contained in the Reply of
the Chinese Government of May 1st. Although the Ultimatum calls for
the immediate acceptance by China of the modified proposals
presented on April 26th, without alteration but it should be noted
that it merely states the principle and does not apply to this
article and articles 4 and 5 of this note.

3. If the Chinese Government accept all the articles as demanded in
the Ultimatum the offer of the Japanese Government to restore
Kiaochow to China, made on the 26th of April, will still hold good.

4. Article 2 of Group II relating to the lease or purchase of land,
the terms "lease" and "purchase" may be replaced by the terms
"temporary lease" and "perpetual lease" or "lease on consultation,"
which means a long-term lease with its unconditional renewal.

Article 4 of Group II relating to the approval of police laws and
Ordinances and local taxes by the Japanese Council may form the
subject of a secret agreement.

5. The phrase "to consult with the Japanese Government" in
connection with questions of pledging the local taxes for raising
loans and the loans for the construction of railways, in Eastern
Inner Mongolia, which is similar to the agreement in Manchuria
relating to the matters of the same kind, may be replaced by the