Japan and Manchuria.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11702, 19 June 1901, Page 1

Japan and Manchuria.

HOW SHE VIEWS THE ALLIES.

HER SYMPATHY WITH CHINA. It mil be remembered that Japan made haste to sign the Anglo-German agreement, and that she was so anxious about the matter that she went to some trouble to obtain, both from Germany and England, assurances to tho effect that she

would he allowed to occupy the same position in respect of tho treaties as tho •"riginal s.giir.tDi-if",. T! oonibm Jiou or" haste, iXiiAietv, and simplicity whieb she displayed on the occmsdh. cJiubuu J vith tho fact that just Ufory Cunt Von Bulow's startling utterance she had ofhcially announced in iviswer to an interpellation in th^ Diet th t Manchnn,!, was covered by the Anglo-Gorman ;igre^nv nr, makes her feel rather sick now th.it tiermany has announced also oflicially that ihu agi cement in <jucsti n dot.'s not refer to Manchuria, am: that England has not said that it docs. Son, ?of the articles that have boon publish d on the subject in the Japanese Pro^s aio furious in toi.e— not so much against liussia as against (Sennany and Europe in general. "The failure of England and Germany,'" says the Japan Times, the sonii-ollicial organ of the Government, u to communicate to tho other Powers the very arbitrary so, s; iv which they meant to interpret the t<Tiu Chinese territory is nothing short, of a deliberate fraud. . . . England's silence on this important point, if it 'ft iiot a decisive proof of brr acquiescence, is very unpleasantly significant: it -is certainly not calculated to dispel suspicion as to her complicity in a transaction which will for ever remain written deep in the pages of history as a piece of diplomatic jugglery of the blackest kind. The discovery that we havo been most shamefully duped has doubtless been a painful shock to our amour propre, and it will make us more careful in the future in our political dealings with Europe." I may here add that the article from which I quote concludes with the hope and threat "that the Imperial Government will not fail to take such steps as may be found necessary."

It is not my object, however, to refer to these threats or to what may come of them, but to show how the faithlessness t»f Europe is tending to make the subjects of the Mikado look forward with more aufrmore anxiety to a day when they will be working hand iv hand with the only •' face they can understand — tha Chinese— and will need to make no more engage ments with the unmentionable \i hite man. Even before this unfortunate Anglo-Ger-man matter, the Japanese in general manifested a good deal of sympathy for the i Chinese. They seemed, indeed, to entirely forget the past wrongs that had been done them and to be filled .with pity for even the worst of the Chinese reactionaries. The European papers that come out here teeming with allusions to the necessity of vengeance and punishment filled them with surprise and bewilderment. Russia's suggestion that the Allies evacuate Pekin waß received in 'this country .with much satisfaction, the only regret to the Japaness being that they had not made it first. Of late this racial sympathy had been growing stronger and stronger. As an instance of the form it sometimes takes, I may 'refer to a pathetic description of the execution of Xi and Suh, 'two of the Boxer leaders, which has just appeared in the Yomiuri. Just before the execution Xi, who had, says the Yomiuri, " been always noted for his sterling char acter," was visited by his wife. '-Jit waa a parting between a heroic husband and a heroic wife." The dying speech.of tae " lieroic Boxer" is then given, and a iine manly speech it is. Then- we are treated to a thrilling account of tho loneliness and grief of the wife and of her beautiful daughter, a maiden of. nineteen years. Finally, we are told that on the seventh 1 day after Ki's execution tho two ladies held a mbst elaborate religious service for the repose of Ki's soul, and how they determined after the service 'was over to kill themselves. " For what had they to live for ? What could they expect but to die in the end victims to the lust and cruelty of the ' civilised ' fiends, like hundreds of others of their sex. and nationality ?" N The tendency here, in short, is pity for China and distrust for Europe. That, tendency has shown its existence only jS^ring the last few months, but I consider it important to notice Jpq fact, as it . may be of great' importance in tna future. When the Caucasian is played out, for ex&mplo, and the - gloomy fore- , bodings ofj"truthful James" realised, he may— his Yellow masters permitting — 3ate his entrance on the downward path to the day wK@n the • cowardice of G-er? ■ many and the defection of England made the young Empire of the -Mikado lose Eaith once and for all in Europe's honour md Europe's pride. I may add tkat since this article*was written Japan ha?, „ in answer to further interpellations in ' the Diet, resolately refused to endorse Count Von Bulow's singular interpretation of the Anglo-German agreement. Writing a few days later, the correspondent says :— The news that China has rejected the Manchurian Convention is received with much satisfaction in this country j and, luckily, it has been made public at the iame opportune time that England agrees with Japan in regard to ihe latter'sinclusion of Manchuria in the scope of the A.nglo-German agreement. Japan, in [act, communicated direct with England ?n the matter immediately after Count . Von Bulow's declaration, and England's I Erank answer to the above-mentioned affect has satisfied the Japanese completely. "If the signing of the treaty lias been prevented," wrote the Japan Times a few days ago, " and there is no ground to believe otherwise, ihe event must be regarded as a signal, even if momentary, triumph of the principle of the open door and territorial integrity — m achievement for which China is indebted to the liberal attitude of commercial Powers in general, and to the Brm and friendly exertions of Japan and England an particular. The incident has. jfforded a striking evidence, if evidence were necessary, of tbe solidarity of interests betweeu Japan and England, who appear to have throughout stood by each other with a loyalty and constancy which, 30 far as it goes, augurs well for the maintenance of peace ia "the Far East." -Tokio correspondent of tho North China Herald, April 10.