Oct. 31.
Certain events during the past week with regard to the Sino-Japanese hostilities are jof singular importance to foreigners in the Far East. The first was the publication of the very stiff note from the government of! the United States to Japan on the subject of the infringement of American rights in China, the second was the message of the Shanghai American Chamber of Commerce to Washington supporting the step which had been taken, and the third was the meeting, on Saturday of representatives of the American and British Chambers of Commerce together with British and American trade officials as well as the Australian and Canadian Trade Commissions. Of the first two, because the purport of the Note and the message is mown, it may be said that what has been done is'wholly admirable. Washington has spoken in no uncertain tones, while the cordial message of support from Shanghai—including as it does a communication of sincere approbation from the men on the spot,—not only indicates a complete realization of present trends in Japanese policy in China but also of the necessity of doing everything possible to counteract ihe enormous amount of damage which is being done to American interests. Even. more praiseworthy from a local point of view was Saturday's meeting. Nothing has been divulged as to the nature of the discussions which took place at this Anglo-American meeting of trade representatives, but it, is justifiable to surmise! in the circumstances that they centred. upon the common problem which had been presented to them by Japanese action, and the necessity for British and American, /business in China to ce-operate in facing the menace with which they are threatened. It is an open secret that groups of the American jand British communities have been col-Taborating for some time past in various moves calculated to bring home to their repective governments and to the various trade and other bodies in both countries the rapid accumulation of developments adverse to their present position and future outlook in China, The meeting on Saturday is significant as making it quite public that the commonalty of interest is fully understood, Snd that there is in existence every intention {fo do everything possible for their protection.
This journal has consistently referred to the various schemes developed by the Japanese designed to create monopolies of trade, and effect discrimination to the detriment of foreigners whose rights to carry on business in China are duly established by treaty. It has demonstrated how these plans for the bare-faced exploitation of China, at the expense of everyone except Japan, is the real' raison d'étre of these present hostilities. At all times has it realized that the China trader' has been fully alive to the dangers which face him, and that great efforts were being' made to secure whatever protection: is' available. There is in this no criticism in-fended of the various consular services involved. In all fairness to them, it must be admitted that they have worked most! [strenuously in the interests of their nationals, at a time when the problems they ordinarily have to face have been multiplied, and there will be few indeed who will not have a word of praise for what they have been doing. They will undoubtedly find their hands considerably strengthened by knowledge of the fact that the American and British trading Jcommunities are prepared to cooperate in furthering their endeavours, and it may with every truth be said that in the combination which is thus being effected are the best] hopes of the matter being successfully dealt with, The difficulties, with which the American and British trader are confronted in existing conditions, are the same with regard to every other country trading with China, with the exception of the Japanese themselves. Even those countries, which are promised rewards for a governmental complacency, regardless of the needs of their nationals trading here, are in fact just as much involved, and certainly to an extent which will not be compensated for by the' crumbs which It is proposed to spare from the rich men's table. Those nationals cannot bbe expected to cooperate, but those who do will understand that they are fighting everyone's battle, It Is unnecessary to detail at this time the immensity of the interests of foreigners trading in China, or even those of the Americans and British. It is sufficient to point out that their annual trade with this country in the last complete year before the outbreak, 1936, was for the United States C$378,000,000, and for the British Empire, something over C$371, 000,000, These latter figures are an underestimation as they only include Great Britain, India, Hongkong and Malaya, When to these is added the trade of other third party neutrals—and excluding for the moment all capital investments in China—it is apparent that the interests which are threatened by the present Japanese schemes represent no mean figure—indeed of a total trade of C$1,650,000,000 the foreign trade attacked is well over C$1,000,000,000 per annum. That, and again not forgetting the very large amount of capital investment, is most certainly worth while saving, and expression of the intention to ce-operate in its protection to be found in this joint meeting of Saturday is a most encouraging sign of the necessary (determination. This is not the time to discuss the means by which such interests can be protected. That they can be, that none the foreign nations involved are entirely powerless to resist the very apparent encroachments which are taking place must be apparent to everyone, and, if other countries similarly affected decide upon parallel or common action, the opposition which can be offered to the Japanese is as powerful as it is real. The American Government has shown the most praiseworthy determination in the Note sent to Japan. The American Chamber of Commerce has backed its government in the clearest possible manner. British conversations in Tokyo on the subject of the infringement of British rights have not been productive of much good, but if the two governments do present either a determined common front, which would be preferable, or equally determined parallel action, it may not be too late to restore the status quo, or at least prevent any more damage being done.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.