Read this line from the text:

during the intervening time the japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the united states by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

what is the most likely meaning of the word expressions, based on your reading of this text?

demands
statements
arguments
refusals

After reading the excerpt represented above, I would say that the most appropriate word that coincides with tone of the text is Demands. At first : there is a business term called false demands, which is commonly used in economics/international relationships. And if in actually brings the negative meaning it couldn't be Refusals, (obviously -statements also can't be used and the same with argument as it should be in another context).