PEACE IN CHINA.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 June 1933, Page 6

PEACE IN CHINA.

The peace terms agreed to by China and Japan give the latter the full control of what was formerly the Chinese province of Manchuria. In the light of Japan’s overwhelming superiority in military and naval forces the terms are no more drastic than was to be expected. They confer an opportunity for the development of Manchuria by Japanese capital and supervision, and there is every reason to believe that the banditry and disorder that have been rampant in the new kingdom of Manchukuo will be sternly repressed now that China’s challenge to Japan’s suzerainty has been overcome. The first-fruits of that success may be seen in the action taken against the Soviet in regard to the Siberian railway. It is quite evident that Japan intends to have undivided authority in regard to the railway as well as in other administrative affairs in Manchukuo, and the vacillating policy of the Moscow Government is assisting in this direction. A few weeks ago it was announced that the Soviet was willing to sell its interests in the railway to Japan, but that argument had arisen in regard to their value. The Manchukuo officials have now blocked the railway line at the point where it comes under Soviet control, and the next move from Moscow will ’be awaited. Insofar as Japanese overlordship makes for better government in Manchukuo it can be welcomed. But if it is true that Japan’s ambition is to become “the Britain of the East” she will have to adopt the British principle in the administration of peoples with a less advanced civilisation than her own. It is the principle of administering affairs primarily for the benefit of the backward nation, and if it is applied in Manchukuo much of the criticism of Japan will soon be forgotten.