THE PERIL OF THE EAST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 102, 3 May 1933, Page 6

THE PERIL OF THE EAST.

A new Russo-Japanese conflict is threatened. By setting- up tlie State o£ Mancliukuo, Japan lias brought the control of, the Chinese eastern railway into dispute. When the railway was built it was intended to be a joint enterprise. Russian engineers built it, a Russian staff controlled all its operations, both technical and administrative, and in its general management Chinese and Russian directors were to have equal rights. The railway cost £40,000,000, of which China contributed one million. This dual control led to many difficulties, and eventually negotiations between the Soviet and China in a recognition that "the railway was a purely commercial enterprise, that China was entitled to redeem the railway with Chinese capital, and that the future of the line was to be determined by the two Governments, to the exclusion of any third party." This reference to a third party was meant to exclude Japan. Chinese sovereignty over Manchuria has now virtually ceased, and the Japanese claim that China's interests are vested in the new State of Mancliukuo. This State, they claim, is an independent State founded by the wish of the inhabitants. The Soviet contends that it is merely a puppet' State controlled by Japan in, Japanese interests, and that it has no claim on the railway or its equipment, and in this, for once in a way, the Soviet viewis supported by world opinion. The Soviet appears to have taken the view that if China has lost control of Manchuria, all the interests in the railway revert to Russia as the other partner. Japan cannot grant this without imperilling her position in Mancliukuo, and she demands joint administration by Russia and the new State. The great hope for peaceful settlement lies in the fact that neither side is in a financial position to conduct a long campaign. Both countries are faced with grave internal economic difficulties, and a threat of war on a large scale might [ precipitate revolution.