JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 248, 17 October 1894, Page 8

JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC.

A NATIVE'S VIE-W^

"Without donbb the Pacific will in the coining century be the plat* fdrm of commercial and political enterprise." A Japanese writer, Mr Manjiro Inagaki, 8.A., made this remark gome (our yearß ago in hia, book on "Japan and the Pacific," and his nearness to the truth ia attested by she interest which the world ia now displaying in the struggle-between the Japanese and fche Chinese. Our cables, from day to day, have shown that the war haa more than a local incidence, at any time the nations of Europe may be drawn inbo It, and the field of battle may be spread over the whole globe. Whether there is any truth in the reports of the strained relations between Russia and England in the East is doubtful, bub at any rate the views of our Japanese author are to a certain extant prophetic. It was only after the war between England and China, brought tc an end in 186 Cby the troaty of Pekin, that Russia began to take an active interest in Pacific affairs. Russia, in fact, was jealous of the predominance gained by England in thi?, quarter of the globe, and General Ignatie3 was at once despatched to China aa plenipotentiary. The General, after aiding the allies in their negotiations with China, negotiated for hia own country, and bo wel! did he manage that ho obtained from China the session of Eastern Siberia, with Vladivostock and other seaports on the Pacific. Ituesia as a Power on Eastern waters dates from this epoch

i " Lord Elgin," the writer states, " aeked lgnatieff whySßussia was bo anxious to obtain naval porte on the Pacific. He replied : " We do nob want them for our own sake1, bub chiefly in order that wo may be in t position to compel the English to recognise that it is worth their while to be iriendt, with us rather fchan foes." The growing Russian influence in the North Pacific lod England in 1886 tea annex Port Hamilton, an island on the southern coa3t of the Corea. as a base from which operations sould be conductod. As a coaling gtatioD the place .is valuable ; it forms tho gate of Tang Hai, and the Yellow Sea, bub without alliance with Japan it could not be availed of for attack upon Vladivostok, unless Japan were friendly. The British occupation of Porb Hamilton only lasted a couple of yeers, for the scheme was abandoned in 1887, when the English Government obtained a guarantee trom China against » Russian occupation is future years. Meanwhile, Rusaia haa been quietly extending her hold over the Pacific coasb, following her traditional policy, which Lord Derby has bo well described. " The firab process," remarked this statesman. "has been invariably that of fomenting discontent and dissatisfaction amongst).the subjects of subordinate states, then profierinfj mediation, then offering aesistahcevto the weaker party, then declaring the independence of the party, then placing thab independence under tho protocbion of Russia, and finally from protection,, proceeding .to theineorpprabjon, one by one of bhose States into the gigantic body of the Russian Empire." Mr Inagaki thoroughly endoraes Lord Derby'? views on Russian treachery, and reminds this nation that) "a. Russian annexation, of Corea — ' the Turkey ' in. Asia — would necessitate an alliance of England, China, and Japan, who al! possess common interests in the Pacific and Yellow Beas; also that it might cause a second Crimean war in the Pacific instead of in the Black Sea." Our Japanese friend is right in the importance which he attaches to the possession of the Corean peninsula, bub obviously, when he refers to a combination between China and Japan, he failed to anticipate a war between the two countries which might afford opportunity to their common enemy, Russia- Still, he ia becomingly patriotic in his views in regard to' his own country, "Japan," he writes, '" has nob only a splendid future before her with regard to commercial greatness, but has every chanca of rising to tho head of manufacturing nationß. In the latter respect ehe had advantages over Vancouver's Island and New South • Wales, her rivals on the Pacific,'' Further, the Japanese, he asanrts, are born sailors, and recent events havo certainly borno out his statement, for, as islanders, the Japs have proved infinitely more officienb in the management of the modern man-of-war than the Chinese. Finally, Mr Inagaki, in reviewing the position of Japan in the Pacific, asks whether England, by using Hongkong as the centre of operations, will ever be able to eecuro absolute power in this region. The question he decides in the negative, as such preppndering influence "could ba maintained only by uu occupier of the island of Formosa, the • Maita' of the North Pacific, which lies between the North China Sea and the South ' China Sea. From this island, with ft good n'Slvy, any, power almost; might be exerted over the North arid South China Seas and over the Pacific highways from Hongkong to Australia, Panama, Nicaragua, San Francisco, Vancouver, Japan and Shanghai. All these are in fairly close promimiby to Formosa, and the Shanghai route to Hongkong actually runs between the island the China mainland." England, the writer predicts, will some day occupy Formosa, in order bo uphold her power in tlie easb and the result may lead to complications which we cannot foresee. ' But this facb remains," he concludes, " a certainty thab will one day come to pass,.thab England and Russia will ab some fubure period fight for eupremocy in the North Pacific. Japan lies between the future combatants.''