Oct, 19.
Japan's policy, as outlined authoritatively by Mr. Akira Ariyoshi to this journal on Thursday, seems to take a definite line in' encouraging Sino-Japanese friendship. After the strenuous pronouncements which have been released from other Japanese authorities His Excellency's prosaic statement comes as a relief. It sup~ plies a bromide to feverish thoughts. As an Ambassador usually reflects the views of the Foreign Office which he serves, Mr. Ariyoshi must bbe taken accurately to express the sentiments of the Japanese Government and its policy toward China, He has repudiated any "present intention" of forcing the pace, He indicates lines on which the Japanese Government considers Sino-Japanese ce-operation can be most rapidly developed, but he re~ cognizes the dimculties' with which the Chinese Government has to contend, The presumption is that, as' the Government at Nanking is' the Central Government with whom the Japanese Government deals, the course of diplomatic negotiation will proceed between Mr. Ariyoshi and Mr. Wang Ching-wei, as Ambassador and Foreign Minister respectively, Events during the last few months have shaped themselves conformably with this policy. The Chinese Government, by various: official measures and_ statements, has affirmed its belief in the necessity for ce-operation with Japan. It has acquiesced in or initiated changes in administration to meet defined requirements presented on Japanese behalf, It has sedulously attuned its accepted policy of toleration to the exigencies of the situation in the North. Nor has it confined its complaisance to that area, In other regions its policy has been clearly governed by the realities of Japanese insistence, Mr. Ariyoshi plainly perceives' the significance of this development and on behalf of his Government is inclined to express the view that. Sino-Japanese relationships are being gradually consolidated.
In these circumstances sinister terpretation on the activity of Japanese representatives in China fare deprecated, if Mr. Ariyoshi is read aright. The meeting which is to begin to-morrow and at which military and diplomatic oft-of the Japanese Government are to exchange views on China, is merely a matter of departmental routine. It apparently is to be dissociated from certain obiter dicta which have been prominent in the news of late. There seems to be solid ground for accepting Mr. Ariyoshi's appreciation of the position, apart altogether from his own status and his personal reputation. Bven the most impatient observer, whether in Tokyo, Dairen or Tientsin, will hardly fail to perceive the unwisdom of wasting effort when, by quiet pertinacity, achievement can be certainly recorded. The process of grappling friends to souls by hoops of steel has respectable commendation. It is not improved by extravagant use of the steel, In short the Chinese Government may be trusted to have a shrewd grasp of the general situation and, within the limits of the resources at its disposal, will assuredly endeavour: to meet the advances of Japanese diplomacy with dignified "alacrity. It may feel irked at times by the difficulty of discerning the medium through which that diplomacy endeavour to find expression, but, after all, when the acredited bassador of Japan outlines country's policy in so friendly and sympathetic a vein as in Mr. Ariyoshi's latest pronouncement, the air should be notably cleared, There is no. doubt that the Progress of Sino-Japanese cooperation is vital to the advancement of material prosperity in this country and to the general peace of the Far East, In contributing to that progress the Chinese Government serves its own people's best! {interests and enhances its reputation for statesmanship. This view Jdoes not ignore uncomfortable Jpassages which, from time to time, thave to be encountered, partly Jowing to the irrepressible influences conflicting schools of thought on} both sides, partly owing to the lag, lof recent happenings. Current history teaches the lesson that undue emphasis on national prejudices may Jcreate impassable barriers to that) understanding which—especially for two countries in close geographical jand cultural communion—is essential to international amity. China {to-day faces an exceptionally severe economic crisis. Political forces require to be subordinated to the Ineeds thus created. The advantage to be gained by cultivating friend-relations with countries which Jare able to reinforce economic remedies is clear to the mind. On that ground alone the policy out-ined by Mr. Ariyoshi deserves serious consideration by Chinese leaders, as it no doubt is having at his time when they are in special conclave in Nanking. Mr. Ariyoshi's graceful reference to the part played by British interests in China shows that he is not disposed to regard his country's policy as prescribing an exclusive restriction fon Sino-Japanese ce-operation. He judges well; for, in the task of work-Ing for the rehabilitation of China and the greater stability of her government, the goodwill and cooperation of other nations, with important interests at stake in this country, must be of real value and significance.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.