May 27.
Mr, Hachiro Arita will not fail to perceive the dignity, restraint and statesmanship of General Chang Chun's remarkable plea for Sino-Japanese understanding by negotiation through the proper @iplomatic channels. General Chang Chun plainly asks for a precise definition of Japanese requirements and for a restoration of immediate contact between the two Governments at Nanking and Toyko. In so doing General Chang 'Chun faces realities, avoids recrimination, disclaims any thought of securing' advantage by playing off tone Power against another, and justifies neighbour ly cooperation between the two countries on the ground of their racial and cultural affinities. Japan is assured that her concern over the danger Communism in China is shared by the Chinese Government who pledges itself to perseverance in relentless war against the Red insurgents. China desires to "Live and Let Live;" to proceed on the principle of " self-help in seeking her own security and the removal of all, obstacles to a permanent rapprochement with Japan. Instinct with sincerity and an acute perception of the dangers of the present drift, the Foreign Minister's speech gives a courteous assent to Mr. Arita's recent tentative proposal for the improvement of Sino-Japanese relationships and invites examination of the issues involved, Tt generously recognizes Japan's declared solicitude for Far Eastern stability and firmly imposes thereon the preservation of China economic and political integrity by the sanction of international justice a preliminary answer to Mr. Arita's pronouncement, it could hot be more complete or unre served. It calls for serious _consideration which it will, no doubt, receive from Japan, Disregard of could not be lightly entertained by responsible statesmen. General Chang Chun has earned the gratitude of his countrymen and the respect of the world by the unaffected manner of his approach to a vital problem at a critical moment in Far Eastern affairs. He soberly raises the whole issue of China's national destiny in the Ught of Sino-Japanese contacts, By the Washington Treaty the signatory Powers sought to create sure shield behind which China, in "the throes of revolutionary could work out her salva~ tion and preserve her territorial and economic integrity. It boots not fo inquire where the res~ ponsibility rests for the cireumstances which robbed that shield of its eMfcacy. World conditions embarrassed all signatories without exception as successive crises arose to diminish China's power of rapidly establishing solidarity. Assistance tendered through the League of Nations and from other sources for equipping China with technical machinery for self improvement, could not exercise its full beneficence owing to internal and external difficulties.
The Western nations became overwhelmed with their own immediate troubles. Japan chafed at what appeared to her to be an enforced inaction in the face of a deteriora~ tion in Far Eastern economy. Thus—rightly or wrongly—began that train of events which broke the ties binding Japan with her sister Powers, Manchuria became Manchoukuo, the boundaries of which were soon made to advance into Jehol and Northern China, With her foot set on the lone track without the League, Japan found herself progressively lured into' further adventures until to-day she has penetrated into Charhar and. Suiyuan, has created a virtual protectorate of Hopel and is exercising a de facto. control of North China, Nor is this the limit of her accrued responsibility, ° for in other parts of China, and ' over the Chinese Government itself she is charged with the assumption of special obligations. An ap-Parently unpremeditated development in the North has made her appear in the role of patron to a direct attack on the Chinese 'Maritime Customs whereon depends the very foundation of China's administrative and economic' solidarity. The.extension of her self-imposed activities has brought her into the peril of conflict on the Russian border creating a situation which arouses definite strategic anxieties.
These conditions may be viewed '—and justly. viewed—in a grim ight. If Japan regards war with Russia as the inevitable outcome of the clash of the two countries' territorial and trading interests the Mongolian and Mancharian frontiers, she naturally feels impelled to secure her position in China. Caught in the toils of aggressive expansion, she may be inclined to believe that the mere assertion of diplomatic friendship will be inadequate. Recognizing from the unwavering success of each advance into Chinese territory the physical disability of China, she may be! tempted to rely exclusively on the force or threat of force to make sure that China is impotent to succour the potential enemy in the far North. Yet her statesmen cannot be blind to the dangers of that course, The break up of China would be no solution of their own difficulties; indeed it might well enhance them, even if the fear of any resistance from China, herself could be surely dismissed. The whole situation is dominated by. this exaggerated apprehension. If it be allowed to develop unchecked it may soon involve the Far East ina catastrophic conflagration. That {s why General Chang Chun's solemn appeal is so worthy of attention, Russo-Japanese rivalry can be satisfactorily treated without recourse to war, if only the sus~ picious and uneasiness of both sides can be allayed. Moscow does not want war, any more than it wants more territory. Tokyo docs: not want war, but is finding it difficult to calm the restiveness and control the -asscrtiveness of its quasi-Independent Military strategists on the continent. China's integrity—provided Washington with that sure but. now shattered shield—is thus made the' sport of Russo-Japanese contention, and at the mercy of feverish Japanese apprehension. General Chang Chun has boldly' bid for Japanese friendship by showing that China's services are available for securing Japan's economic ce-operation and so stabilizing Far Eastern peace, provided due -account is taken of China's own national requirements. Will the bid be successful? - The earnest hope of all is that it will.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.