CHINESE ASPIRATIONS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 217, 7 June 1919, Page 3

CHINESE ASPIRATIONS

. A REMINDER, TO TEE ALLIES. .. Tho Chinese Students' Union in Great Britain recently issued a. 'nj'aMTesto relating to the Chinese aspirations at the final settlement of the,-war. They said: "Wo declare ourselves fully prepared to defend with might and main tlio sacred cause of our own republic on the one hand and to co-operate with the rest of the world for the expansion and furtherance of the ideas of democracy on tho other. We claim to be ons, of tho most to the project of Presl. dent Wilson, and we urge its immediate realisation. Our adhesion is unswerving as our interest is profound. It is our determined will that the privileges and territorial possession which Germany has forcibly acquired in tho province of Shantung should be unconditionally restored to us. Kiao-chau, formerly torn away from us by Germany, is now in the occupation of Japan. The latter promised in her ultimatum to Germany its eventual restoration to China, but so far has not acted upon her words. May we not trust or even insist that the Allies should be fair to China, who has definitely ranked herself on the Allied side? Are we expecting too much in claiming that Japa,n should be equally faithful to the :Allied gospels of justice and right and keep her own pledge? During the last sixty years or so tho Great' Powers have jointly or individually imposed upon China a numbejj of treaties which vitally affect her independence and thwart her free development; such are the old treaties or convention* respecting consular jurisdiction, - tariff arrangement, territorial concessions, and foreign garrisons, as well, as the recent treaties forced upon us by Japan in the course of the war, notably that of May, 1915. For the- removal of all restrictions and interferences resulting from these treaties we appeal partly to the good-will_ of our Allies, and partly to the assertions of President Wilson that equality o£ States must imply equality of rights, and that every nation should bo free to choose her own way toward her development without suffering humiliation, fear, or em. barrassment. Tho manifesto was signed by tho China National Dofonce League in Europe, Lo Comito Democratlque Chinois cn France, and tho Central Union of tho Chinese Students in Great Britain.