Dr. Sun was asked first about the correctness of a recent Japanese report to the effect that he w willing to allow the question of Japan's possession of territories in Manchuria to rest for the present. {This was quite correct, he said, but he had not wished' to convey that Japan was to be placed in a different category from other Powers. In his campaign for the restoration of Ohina's independence he was confining himself in the immediate present to two things—the abolition of foreigners' extra territorial privileges and the restoration of Customs autonomy to China, As to the Japanese holdings in Manchuria, he placed them fon the same foot Hongkong and Macao. asking at present for the return of thes When it was pointed out that the Japanese concessions in Manchuria were rather comparable in the various concessions at Shanghai, Hankow and Tientsin, he said he was not troubling about the eon-cessions either at the moment. He was seeking just the two things first. Until China was permitted to contro! her own Customs service and to abolish the extraterritorial privileges of foreigners, she was not a nation. She was reduced to position worse than that of any colony. His idea was not that Japan shoul be treated differently from the other Powers. What he wanted was that all the Powers should follow in the footsteps of Russia, restoring China's sover-eighty.
Powers' "Strong Man" Policy absurd, said Dr. San, that China's chief source of national revenue, the—Custo should "be in the hands of the Powers. And it was very wrong that foreigners in China should be immune from Chinese law. Relying on this immunity, foreign advo turers had been stirring up trouble in China for the past 13 years—that is, since the. revolution which overthrow the Manchu ré9i The interviewer asked in what way foreigners had stirred up trouble, In the first place, said Dr. Sun, by giving their support to Yuan Shih-kai. Adventurers had sueceeded in persuading the foreign Governments to give a loan of 250,000,000 to Yuan to help him overthrow the revolutionary influence in China, If the Powers had not given such support, there would have been no trouble. There would have been no monarchy movement in China except for the Powers' support. Lately they had chosen Wu Pei-fu as their "strong man" and had given support to him. Britain and America had What would the British people think, said Dr. Sun Yat-sen, if the Chinese should say to them, "Haig is your strong man Haig is to be your ruler." What would the Americans think if outsiders tried to force them to accept Pershing as their ruler, Foreigners could claim fairly the right to trade with the Chinese' and to. preach Christ-faulty, but they had no. right mix' themselves up in Chinese polities.
The Tale of the Inthe foreigners were placed under Chinese Taw, the 'Republican leader continued, this interference could be prevented. It might be wholesome if one or two of them were shot for stirring up trouble in China. "At present, however, every Englishman was "king in' China. Asan instance he narrated a Canton incident. A Briton had come over from Hongkong to see Military Governor—a man equal in standing to the Governor of Bengal it" not to the Viceroy of India. The official had turned out his re-Jeinue to honour the guest and had ordered champagne for his refreshment. "After receiving such honours for half a day or so, the visitor, who was much embarrassed, mentioned that he had come to see whether his Excellency required any clothes, and, if so, to take his measure. "Chinese officials had Tearned to be very careful, for some of them had been very severely Punished for not paying due respect to an official visitor. Hence the elaborate entertainment of the the other Powers would not grant China her freedom, said Dr. Sun, the Chinese might find it advantageous to demand to be made a British colony. He ré- peated that the position of the Jcountry at present was worse than [that of any colony. She had now all responsibility face in he added, had shown that she had a conscience in the matter by promising in the Mackay Treaty of 1902 that she would restore China's autonomy to China on condition that the other Powers should do likewise. (The Treaty certainly provides that either party may denounce the end of any period of 10 years; also that the rights and obliga-[tions of the various Powers under the treaty shall'be equal) Then, said Dr. Sun, there were the promises given by the Powers at the Washington Conference. (Promises to permit a large increase in the Customs rates and to investigate the question of the abolition of extraterritoriality). Russia, he said, had actually restored" China's sovereignty as far as Russia was concerned. "Since the Russian action, we have come to doubt England," concluded the Chinese
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.