A NEW FACTOR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 247, 19 October 1933, Page 7

A NEW FACTOR.

FAR EASTERN CRISIS, Inner Mongolia's Demand for Self-Government. IMPORTANT BUFFER STATE. (United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright) SHANGHAI, October 18. The leading rulers of Inner Mongolia suddenly loom large in the present Far Eastern crisis. They have threatened immediate secession unless the Chinese Central Government grants them self-government. These disgruntled chieftains occupy an important strategic position in an effective buffer State between Russia, Mancliuku'o and China. They include several Royal descendants of the ancient Khans and control 100,000 square miles of territory, rich in minerals, which virtually would be a key position in the event of an outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Japan. The chieftains express a desire to remain under Chinese jurisdiction, but they declare their readiness to seek the assistance of their neighbours should Nanking ignore their demands for an autonomous Inner Mongolia.

The foregoing decision was reached at a conference of secessionists just concluded in an ■ isolated temple at Batahalak. It was attended by 70 delegates representing every subsidiary State in Inner Mongolia. This is the first occasion on which a completely vtnited front has been offered by these nomadic tribes. Prince Te-Hwang, the chairman, supported by several other princes at the conference, claimed- that the inhabitants had been subjected to territorial infringements, harsh taxation and heavy duties on goods exported to China. Obviously a further extension of Japanese influence over Tuner Mongolia, or Mongolia's alliance with Manchukuo, would be a serious blow to Russia's interests. It would cut the Soviet's important auxiliary route to the Pacific through. Urga and Kalgan. The Chinese Government has announced that China is prepared to grant Inner Mongolia self-government when she is satisfied as to the bona-fides of the movement. , e