Editing Hull note (section)

==Background==
The United States objected to the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and the occupation of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Manchuria area of China]] by Japanese troops and settlers. In protest, the United States sent support to the [[History of the Republic of China|Nationalist government]] of [[Chiang Kai-shek]], starting with the [[Lend-Lease Act]]. In July 1941, Japanese military units occupied southern French Indochina, violating a [[gentlemen's agreement]]. Japanese bombers quickly moved into bases in Saigon and Cambodia, from which they could attack British Malaya. As a result, the US government imposed [[ABCD line|trade sanctions on Japan]], including the freezing of Japanese assets in the United States; this effectively created an embargo of oil exports, as Japan did not have the necessary currency with which to buy American oil.<ref name="miller2">{{cite journal |last1=Nishiyama |first1=Takashi |title=Bankrupting the Enemy: The U.S. Financial Siege of Japan before Pearl Harbor (review) |journal=Technology and Culture |date=July 2008 |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=810–811 |doi=10.1353/tech.0.0066 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/243121 |access-date=4 October 2022 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |s2cid=109468978 |issn=1097-3729|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 

[[Dean Acheson]], a senior U.S. State Department official, was the key decision maker. He shifted American policy away from export restrictions and toward "full-blooded financial warfare against Japan".<ref name="Miller1">{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Edward S. |title=[[Bankrupting the Enemy|Bankrupting the Enemy: The U.S. Financial Siege of Japan before Pearl Harbor]] |date=2007 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |edition=First |location=Annapolis, Maryland |page=108}}</ref><ref name="miller2" /> This [[Economic sanctions|financial freeze]] was described by Miller as "the most devastating American action against Japan".<ref name=Miller1 />