EAST AND WEST.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20611, 29 July 1932, Page 7

EAST AND WEST.

DEVELOPMENTS IN CHINA. ADDRESS BY MR J. E. STRACHAN, . - j At a well-attended meeting of the Canterbury branch of tho New Zealand Historical Association held last night at Canterbury College, Mr J. E. Strachan delivered ah address on "Relations (between East and West during the Age of Imperialism." Dr. Hight occupied the chair. Mr Strachan began by defining Im-' perialism as the extension of the powers of a government beyond its own territories by means such as coneessio'ns and spheres of influence. He cited Japan as an example of modern Imperialism. A striking faevfc in the progress of Imperialism was that only six million square miles of the earth was now under non-white gdvernmentj arid of this area two-thirds was represented by China and Japan. China was the only considerable area not controlled by an Imperially-minded nation. Methods of extending power weire emigration to undeveloped areas of the world, and the acquiring of monopolistic rights over the sources of raw materials or even over markets,. The means by which this was accomplished had heretofore been the somewhat crude methods of armaments and war. But modern methods of Imperialism—with Japan as a possible exception to the, rule —were more subtle and more invidi-, ous. In an age in which tho investors in 'i business largely controlled and advised governments, it was not infrequent to find Imperialism synonymous with nationalism. But the foundations of the old Imperialism, were crumbling .*;iiß since the war economic national- j ism had been the hew name for the state of confusion which had arisen; '•'] British Foreign Policy. British foreign policy had been mainly dictated by questions of trade and finance. It had always been directed against "other European nations threat-' ening Britain's trade, but since the loss of the American colonies had had : special reference to Asia. It rested on the establishment Of naval supremacy aiid tho maintenance of a balance. of power. Imperialism in China dated from the treaty of Nanking in 1839. Tho catt'ses of tho opium war were well known.' Tho Chinese had teen reluctant to trade on equal terms with foreigners, partly because of their natural arrogance, partly because they feared exploitation, and partly because a chief item of trade was opium. The Chinese used force, but two ' years of bombardment of towns and coastal regions led the Government to sue i'or peace, lite ensuing, treaty. inaugurated concessions and settlements. The difference between theso was explained by the speaker. A concession, he stated, was leased or granted by tho provincial authority and tho consul of the nation concerned then leased the land to his own nationals. But in the j ease of the settlement at Shanghai, I this procedure was not followed. An area for settlement was demarked T>y the Chinese authorities and the' foreign ' nations had thou to treat separately for portions of it. The Growth of Shanghai. At Shanghai the original British settlement soon became cosmopolitan, and "in 1863 tho British and American; Settlements wero amalgamated into the international settlement, but the French Settlement remained apart, and is.' wrongly known as the French concession. Shanghai was intended for occupation by foreigners, but the , hiatteT t .was soon complicated after internal Chiitese troubles when laTgo numbers of Chineso were driven to take up their abode in the • settlement. Municipal government was 'established aiid the i ultimate result had been a • governing - body unique in history. No one power had authority in Shanghai, but control was vested in the whole consular bodjoxercising jurisdiction. In this great and growing city, built in Chineso ter-■ ritory out of profits from Chinese trade, ■ there was a 3 per cent. . nucleus of foreigners who administered the settlement and owed allegiance to no foreign Government. But the fact that Shanghai had neither a national nor an in-' ternational consciousness was shown in tho recent operations when the settlement was open to Japan as & base of.' operations, but not to China. , The tTnited States of America. Tho United States had never been at war with China except by association with other Powers, but her privileges > wore at least equal with thoso of Great Britain, and her policy had been no.' less efficacious. She had insisted-on the "open door and equality of opportunity,-' and, moreover, ishe had speedily "returned to China her share of the Boxer indent-: nities as educational endowments. Her trade "was promoted on. an understanding of goodwill. Nevertheless, leading Chinese described her as a nation which fished in troubled waters and as. a suave but asute gentleman among ruffians. But American policy in the East had been so successful, that all nations, except Japan and Russia now depended on the same methods. . It,was about the beginninjr of the century that the policy of financial invasion began. At.this time it was confidently expected that China.was breaking up and foreign nations "were very busy financing loans, constructing railways, and committing Chinese authorities to obligations of a far-reaching nature. A powerful hold was obtained--on Chinese resources, but the Chinese now began applying themselves seriously to reorganisation along Western lines, and were at the time only too glad to avail themselves of foreign, loans. Britain's Alliance with Japan. I* .1902 Britain and Japan countered Russian aggression by an alliance. Theeffect was to side France with Russia and eventually war resulted between Japan and Russia. ! For years the anti-foreign,- and especially the anti-Japanese, feeling had beon growing in China. Chinese grievances had been augmented by a disappointment with the League of Nations whom she suspected of unfriendliness. Pome concessions had been restored or taken hack, however, and some of the . dreams of autonomy had been realised. That China in her determination to be / a sovereign state could speedily set. her house in order with a little help was the belief advanced by the speaker. Her leaders were people of the finest typc», industrious and law-abiding. But so long as Japan was in her present franie of mind an alliance with her > was too much to pay for protection j : against Russia in that it would estrange '. China, who would be the great race of j the Pacific in future years. Her civilisa- j tion was stable, her people vigorous and j peace-loving, and lie would far sooner! see the expansion of such a people than J any increase in the "power of the mill- j taut-minded Japanese ooyernn?enf. • ~ j In moving a vote of thanks fo Mr I. Strachan, Dr. flight said "that he was ' doing a gi-e-u"t public .service to , New Zcalandcrs in speaking-to various ; ■associations on Eastern "topics. He thanked him for a clear and accurate addross. -