The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1935. POWER POLITICS IN THE PACIFIC

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 111, 4 February 1935, Page 8

The Dominion. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1935. POWER POLITICS IN THE PACIFIC

11l an interesting review of Power politics in the Pacific, the Round Table puts forward the question whether it would not be possible to revive the Anglo-Japanese alliance in the Pacific foi tie sake of ensuring peace, and answers it in the negative. v\ hue the Alliance existed it proved to have material advantages, not the least of which was that it gave Britain a valuable naval ally in the Pacific during the Great War. - Moreover, a special clause in the Treaty expressly excluded the United States from any questions of arbitration arising, between the contracting parties.and so enabled questions at issue between Japan and America, or Britain and America, to be dealt with as if no Treaty -existed. From the Round Table’s point of view such an idea is no longer tenable. The conditions have changed very considerably. Japan has become far more powerful and aggressive, both in the military and economic sense, since the Alliance was signed in 1902. At the present time, and it possibly may be for some considerable time to come, her policy is dominated by what is practically a military dictatorship. „ 1 lie Alliance provided for the integrity of China .and the “open door tor trade We have seen how in recent years Japanese policy has trencned upon both. It has come to the point, in fact, when the interests of both countries, and the interests of the United States and Japan, aie in sharp conflict. Japan has elected to go her own way, knowing full well that no Western Power is likely to take action alone against her and that the lack of a Far Eastern policy of action by any two or more of them, makes it extremely unlikely that they would take concerted measures. Yet it seems probable that some arrangement as to the balance of power in the Far East will be necessary if the Treaty rights in which various Western nations are interested are to' be protected, and with this problem in view the Round Table turns to the United States as the one nation with-whom Britain might with advantage to the world generally s.eek co-operation for the preservation of the status quo in the Pacific. A valuable opportunity was missed when Mr. Stimson, the then Secretary of State in America, proposed a plan of co-operation which might conceivably have restrained Japanese aggression in China. “The defection of Great Britain in 1932, says the Round Table, ‘ffias left her to face the far more dangerous Pacific situation of 1934-35 - alone.” Can the ground be recovered? Not unless a concerted effort is made. Recently there have been encouraging statements on both sides of the Atlantic as to the need for a friendlier understanding and a spirit of co-operation for world peace between the two great Anglo-Saxon nations. . - What is wanted in the first place is a common policy for meeting, the reasonable claims of Japan and at the same time restraining any tendency toward unreasonable aggressiveness by the Japanese militarists. It is'perfectly clear from'the course of recent events —the Japanese denunciation of the Washington Naval Treaty in particular—that certain principles must be laid down, and if necessary vindicated, if peace m the Pacific is to be made secure. Among these.'must be the acceptance by all concerned of the political and territorial integrity of China, and an understanding by the three principal Pacific Powers for the collective settlement of all disputes arising in that area. Unless these can be agreed upon there is’ a very real danger of a crisis arising. “These,” says the Table, “are very vital questions'. ' They may come up for discussion between the United States and Great Britain at a very early date. They will have to be considered at the nieeting of the Empire Prime Ministers next May, if, as seems certain, the treaties have been denounced by Japan [one has been denounced since these words were written]. They are the gravest issues that have confronted the Commonwealth since the World War.”