Japan & Shanghai

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 195, 3 September 1937, Page 9

Japan & Shanghai

"SENEX")

GROWING AMBITION How *WouId the West Fare on the Yangtse? STATUS OF SETTLEMENT

(By

Tlie struggle for Shangliai betwecn China and Japan appears likely to usher in a new period in tho relationships of Ckina and the West. Most of Jiapan's cxpansion on the Asiatic mainland has been in tho north; her "continental policy" has inovcd towards its apex there. Korea, Manckukuo, Jehol ,tke now disputed five northern provinces, all are far away from Shanghai; but slowly evi* denee has been aceumulating wliieh suggests a new interpretation of cvents. Is tho Shanghai fighting mercly part of a larger battle and made inevifcable by circumstanccs, or is it the rcflection of a long-formulated and carefully carried-out plan to establish Japan as supreme not mcrely over Northern Chiita but over tho whole country, as General Chiang Kai-skek has de-

clared? The answer to this, the Chineso say, is simple. They have believed for somo timo past that Japan is detormined to. dominate Shanghai. Eoreigners, lmowing of the existeneo of the International Seltlenient and of the large stake which Western Powers hold in China and in the city, may feel that this is an cxaggerated fear. There are some significant things which appear to endorse the Chinese view. Importance of Shanghai. First of all there is Shanghai itself. Shanghai is the great metropolis of China. Its annual trade is about £200,00,000. It handlcs -about 40 per cent. of China's foreign commerce, it furnishes about one-half of the Chinese maritime Customs receipts, it : is the port of the gfeat system of natural waterways fonned by the Yangtse, which serves a population of 200,000,000 and even extends into the North China plain. It is the port of a river which, with this waterway system, served about one-half of China and that the economically morc impox* tant half. It is the real koy to domination of China, for which the spread of Japanese influcnce in the ; north may have bgen the preparatory work. It is a higlily industrialised city in one of the most densely-popu-latcd regions in the country and is, in fact, the chief manuincturing centre. Shanghai falls into three divisions— the International Settlement, tho French Concession and Great Shanghai. The last-mentioned includes Chapei, Nantou, Pootung and Woosung, where Chinese forces aro now reported to be massing. It is 95 per cent. of the city in area, but has nothing like as great a share of the population, for of Shanghai's 3,500,000 people almost 1,500,000 are in the International Settlement, which is also the chief industrial district and the site of the major commercial activity of the municipality. What of the Settlement? Thus. anv attempt to dominate

Shanghai would fail unless the International Settlement were ineluded in the scope of the plan and that, almost iuconceivable a short time ago, is not so unthinkable after recent incidents of disregard for the rights of Western peoples. Whatover plan the Japanese may have prepared for the taking-over of Shanghai (and it perhaps may be inferred from tho funeral oration over a Japanese who was killed there in March, 1932: "Death on the battlefield paves the way for the extensioji of Greater Japan on the Yangtse") tho International Settlement has been given full recognition. So full, iu fact, that in the Hongkew sector, .adiacent to the International Settlement,

Japan established control years ago. She has built and occupied a large permanent naval barracks, has oreeted her own fire stations, liccnsed her own ciafes, einemas, tea gardens and beer halls. Japanese troops have carried out regular military manoeuvrcs on tho outskirts of Yangtse-poo and Chapei. In May, 1934 , after a sham battle, they actually occupied portion of the International Settlement for a time. They have detained foreigners,_ and even members of the British Municipal Police ,in Hongkew and at the Chapei Naval Station. Last year a Japanese naval force actually aticmptcd to cross tho French Concession without permission and showed conslderable hostility when it was held up by police. The arrival of a permit possibly avoided an international incident. And all tlio time an intense political struggle has been going on. Goveriiment of Shanghai. Shanghai is gtnoriied by two budies, tho Foreign Katcpayers Association, which liiccts aunually and passes upon the expenditure of the CounciJ, nud Ihe Municipui Council, whicli has tive Britisli, 5 Chinese, 2 Atnericau aml two Japanese meiubers. Tho Japanese are dissatisfied with this slate of affairs. They have been aiding agitation for tlio creatiou of an indepeudent city State. Secondly, they have been ondeavouring to inerase their representation on the council. The Japanese population of the city (as estiiuatcd by Tokio) is about 30.000. The Chinese say that it is less aml has been praetie.ully stationury for years. Jt pays about 7 per cent. of Ihe general inuiiycipal raio aml a I slightly higlior ainouut of land tax against Britain's 2(! per cent. of the. I general rates and 82 per cent. of the land tax, somo of which is on tionBritisli properly registered in British names. In tlie effort to alter the system. of control of the city, this Japnne.se minority has been argubig that it is iimlcmocralic (wliieh ruises Ihe ((uestiun of: what would happcn if Ihe deuiocratic principle wero fully

acecptod, since tho Chinese are 97 per cent of the population), that the Municipal Council is too British jn complexion and' too oligarchic in nature, that the cost of administration is too high, and that the Settlement Bndget, especially in the matter of education expenditure, is not divided equitably aniong tho various national communitics. Japan Grows Bolder. At the same time, the Jiapanese have been biocking the retrocession of the external roads of tho Settlement to Chi ese contfol. Negotiati,ons .over these roads have been proceeding for over ten years, and aiways the Japanese have prevented a settlement. Finally, they have been using tho ballot-oox, the Chinese claim. Last year two couneilmei. wero deieaied, owing, it is stated, to their antiJax>anese attitude at the timo of the attack on Chapei in 1932 in this gradualiy-extending attack on the city the Japanese have been aided by tho fact that none of tho Western Bowers has been anxious for a quarroi over Shanghai. There has Leen .'incident aftw incident, wiith ultimatums and the threat to land troops. Looking bacx over the history of cvents since 1932, oue is iinprossed by tho fact tliut Japanese policy has grown constantly bolder. Can it be that :ke is continuing her iinperialist pplicy in a now field, that iustead. of quietly increasing her interests nlong tho side feuce she is now boldly hammering at the front door?