WARLIKE GESTURES

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12354, 26 January 1926, Page 7

WARLIKE GESTURES

SOVIET RESENTS ARREST OF OFFICIAL IN CHINA CHINESE MAKE A BOLD FRONT FEARING JAPAN, RUSSIA MAY DECIDE TO DO NOTHING la consequence of the arrest of one of their officials in Manchuria, the Soviet Government as reported to. be making warlike gestures. Chang Tso-ltn, the ruler of Manchuria, is standing up boldly—so boldly that it is believed he is assured of Japan's support. The Soviet may decide that mere gestures are sufficient.

By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright ■ Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. OSLO, January 24. Reports are current that Russia is seriously and feverishly preparing for war with China. The army is mobilising and munition factories are working at full pressure. PARIS, January 24. Messages received indicate that Russia is actively preparing for war against China because Marshal Chang Tso-lin, the Manchurian War Lord, arrested M. Ivanoff, Soviet manager of the Chinese Eastern Railway, for refusing to allow military passengers to travel free. “Le Temps’s” Oslo correspondent savs that the Soviet’s threat is not idle. Munition factories are working at full pressure and the army is being mobilised. An extraordinary meeting of Commissars at Moscow is planning the campaign, and railway material is being assembled for the dispatch of troops_ to China. A rigid censorship is operating on all telegrams from China and Japan. BUYING HORSES IN IRELAND (Sydney "Sun" Cable.) LONDON, January 24. The newspaper - “Dispatch” states that Mr Michael Beary has been commissioned to buy troop horses in Ireland for the Soviet cavalry to a value of £60,000, paying from £4O to £6O for each. Payment is to be made after the sales of stocks of .Russian flax now warehoused in London. ARREST OF SOVIET MANAGER Reuter’s Telegram. PEKING, January 24. The Chinese military authorities arrested M. Ivanoff, the Russian general manager of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and three departmental chiefs. A Soviet military attache had previously arrived at Harbin, and was arranging for Soviet military transportation from the eastern to the western Eections of the railway, following upon a wire 6ent by the Soviet Ambassador threatening to occupy the railway with troops. The Chinese have now appointed a White Russian manager and engineer of the southern section of the railway, and he is now running trains southward from Harbin. The Soviet Embassy claims that the arrests have created a most serious situation, constituting a grave inßult and violating the 1924 agreement. It

has protested to the Chinese Foreign Office, demanding M. Ivanoff’s immediate release, and reserving the right to demand satisfaction. The Foreign Office lias telegraphed to Chang Tso-lin at Harbin, urging the immediate release of M. Ivanoff arid stating that the other outstanding question will be settled immediately. “A MERE BLUFF*' Published in "Th** Times.’* (Received Januarr 25. 7.45 p.m.\ LONDON, January 24. “The Times’* correspondent at Rig* says advices from Moscow portray the Bolshevist leaders dismayed at Manchurian. developments. Apparently the Soviet’s action was intended merely to ham]>er the mobility of the gocalled “national’* amies, and Chang’s determined retaliation came as * bombshell to Moscow, where the view seems to prevail that open and effective intervention is impossible in the present circumstances, especially a* it believed it would involve a dash with Japan. .It ia held , that Chang would not , risk what he is risking without the i assurance of Japanese support. It is reported that the movement of considerable forces of the Red army toward China is regarded as' a mere bluff, as is also the veiled threat contained in the three-da-v ultimatum despatched by SI. Chicherin, the Foreign Minister. A DEFINITE CHALLENGE Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. Mr Perceval Landon, telegraphing to the “Daily Telegraph” from Peking, expresses the opinion that the control of the Chinese Eastern Railway is the key to the imbroglio with Russia. It has been the property of the Soviet since the White Russians were defeated, but the Chinese soldiers claimed the right to use the railway, and when M. Ivanoff, the manager, demanded payment, Chang Tsolin arrested Ivanoff, thus definitely challenging the Soviet’s authority in China, where propaganda has "been costing Russia £3,000,000 a year. When tli 3 Soviet failed to convert China to Bolshevism through the Chinese leaders it began stirring up the Chinese masses to violence, a policy of “direct stimulation,”- which, however, proved a fiasco. The Russian attack is likely to establish Chang’s position as the saviout 1 >f China.