RUSSIANS WITHDRAW

Chronicle (Levin), 11 March 1946, Page 8

RUSSIANS WITHDRAW

OCCUPATION OF MtKDEN JAP FACTORIES STRIPPED Received Sunday 11.15 p.m, CHUNGKING, March 10. Eussian troops .have withdrawn completely from Mukden. The Chinese Central News Agency reported that 22 northhbund trains carrying Russian troops have left Mukden since Thursday. There is no sign of Soviet troop movements from Changchun. The railway is busy with the transport of the troops from Mukden to Tiehling, about 40- miles to the north. The news agency declared that fires ef uiidetermined origin were raging in Mukden after the departure of the Russians, who turned the garrison duties over to Chinese Central Government forces. .The agency added that Chinese Communist forces were reported to he active in the subarbs, and it was feared that the Communist might attempt to seize control of the city. Trainloads of Russian troops have already arrived at Changchun. Others travelled to Fort Arthur. The Soviet withdrawal from Mukden began on Thiwrsday and was completed on Saturday, with the hul'k of the troops moving northward. However, j high Chinese quarters in Chungking sai^l j they did not regard the Mukden evacu- : ation necessarily indicated a general ! Russian withdrawal' from Manchuria. ! Chinese experts estimate that it wiU i take three to ten years to reconstrucl i the Japanese-huilt industrial empire oi j Manchuria, the time depending on the 1 outcome of the present Chinese-Soviet j negotiations and China's ability to obI tain foreign machinery and technicians. I A- member of the Chinese Economic j Mission said most of the factories had heen removed by the Russians, who in the nor-th had even taken oxen and horses. Well-in'formed Moscow representa- ! tives, discussing Russian aims in ManI churia, said the Soviet hoped'to impiement the Chinese-Soviet pact with a ! trade agreement, wherehy the two nat tions would contribute capital and ! technicians on a fifty-fifty basis in order to rehabilitate the area. Some Chinese officials at Changchun point out a pos- | sible relationship between the Soviet j stripping the factories and the demand for industrial partnership, explaining. that some of the looted machinery may be returned as part of the Russians' material contribution to such arrange .nent. The Chinese Ecoromie Mission has not yet been able to unravel all the , threads of Japan's Manchurian enter | prises, but a high official said it was ! known that Japan engaged in 72 types j of heavj^ industry and had 150 subsij iiary organisations, controlled hy thc j Manchurian Industrial' Bevelopmeiu 1 Corporation, whose former head, Tasunosuke Takasaki, was still in Changchan, but was unable to he seen. A responsihle source reported that the Russians on October 27, 1945 compelled Takasaki to sign a document formally turning the corporation over to them. fakasaki refused a request to postdate' ihe document to September 27, 1945. 1 The British Government is sending a t Jote to Russia associating itself with | he Amerieans' protest against the Rus- | sian conduct in Manchuria, said the j London Observer. The Note declares j ihat Japanese machinery in Manchuria i must be regarded as part of the Japanj ese reparations and its distribution must be jointly decided by the Ailies.