Now, it is true that Professor Renault argued on the basis of a declared state of war because obviously this simplified and clarified the argument. But, as a matter of fact the present Sino-Japanese conflict is one of the world's greatest incidents, with millions of soldiers on the folds and the extension of his argument to include such a state of hostilities similar in every important respect to 2 declared state of war would seem to be admissible on grounds of common sense and, which is more important, on grounds.of previous practice in the specific circumstances.
In 1927 the British were not in a declared state of war with China.
They were conducting what they regarded as a defensive action in protection of their rights and interests. In the course of that action, they were obliged, as has been noted, to impinge upon the extraterritorial rights of other nations, and this on the only possible plea, as we have seen, of military necessity, that, is of belligerent rights taking precedence of normal peace-time obligations The similar rights claimed by Japan then, can- only be regarded as an extension of the Renault doctrine, as indeed the other Powers must have regarded their rights when acting in the way they did. It would thus appear that the extension of th Renault doctrine to apply to no: declared war has been recognized in practice, The difference between the case of Japan and those already mentioned is one of scope. The Japanese defensive operations in China are on a scale unparalleled in the recent history of that country, for China started the biggest foreign war she ever engaged in, and the scale of those operations has naturally necessitated a proportionately large extension of the restrictions on the extra territorial rights of third Powers But this in no way changes the prin ciple involved; it merely suggests to the Japanese authorities the desirabi lity, from an international point of view, of the utmost circumspection in the exercise of their un question able rights.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.