JAPAN IN MANCHURIA.
There was never any doubt in the European, mind that although Japan would certainly withdraw from Manchuria, leaving China to resume occupation, Japanese influence would remain dominant in the province, and strategic points be held until the Russians were back in Siberia. Apparently, however, China expects that she will be immediately placed in possession of everything but Port Arthur, and that no consideration is due to the Power by whose valour an end was put to Russian occupation. The Japanese newspapers, which have so often shown themselves the mouthpieces of Japanese Ministers, now threaten China with coercion if the obstructive tactics being pursued on the new Manchurian question are continued. From the European point of view, China is powerless in the matter, but Chinese diplomacy is as subtle as it is tortuous, and probably takes into consideration the desire of Japan to stand well in the eyes of Great Britain, America, and other Western Powers,' and not to be forced into the position of seeming to violate the Treaty of Portsmouth. Any danger from further Russian aggression, either in Manchuria, Mongolia, or anywhere else, has vanished for the time being, if not for all time, even although Russian troops still remain in Manchurian territory. The danger felt by Chinese officialism is of the revolutionary influence which Japan may exert upon the Chinese- political organisation, an influence that -may well begin in Manchuria. It would be a sensational sequence to the Russo-Japan-ese War if it should lead to another Chino-Japanese War, but it is not impossible. For though the Chinese Government is extremely unlikely to have any ambition in that direction, and is probably quite prepared to yield at the last moment on any point which the Japanese may press, yet obstructive tactics are so congenial to Chinese officialdom and so irritating to the more versatile tem- : perament of the Japanese, now flushed with victory, that the two may come to blows almost before the world realises that there is any quarrel. So far, the Japanese attitude towards China has been altogether
reasonable and , forbearing, bub there" muiit necessarily be a limit to forbearance as well as to the concessions that the Mikado is prepared to make in order that 1 he may not be accused of ignoring treaty-con-ditions.
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New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13055, 21 December 1905, Page 4
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381JAPAN IN MANCHURIA. New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13055, 21 December 1905, Page 4
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