THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1909. CHINA AND JAPAN.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9572, 19 August 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1909. CHINA AND JAPAN.

Relations China and Japan have been the reverse of cordial ever since the Tatsu-Maru incident of February last year, when a Japanese gun-running tteamer was held up by Chinese Customs officiate and was only surrendered by the Chinese Government, under a threat from Tokio of immediate husiilitiea. Indignation at this n*tirnal affront, as it was regarded, ran high among the Chinese, and the prolonged boycott which followed against all goods of Japanese origin materially damaged the trade of Japan. Now there i? a serious difficulty between the two countries over the re-laying of the railway from Mukden to Antung, an important seaport close to the Korean frontier. The Japanese War Office announces "that it is ready for any eventualities," whhh amounts to something very like an ultimatum to China. This difficulty with regard to the Mukden-Antung railway has been in progress for some time. It arose from the distrust and suspicion with which the Chinese regarded the continued presence of the Japanese in Manchuria, which is {-till a province of the Chinese Empire, presided over by a Chinese Viceroy. The preser.cs of the Japanese in Mtnc'uria is recozui ed by the Treaty of Portsmouth, and the Japanese are entitled to police the main line and also the branch lines in Southern Manchuria with troops, win are called "railway guards," out of deference to Chinese national susceptibilities. The Japanese are also entitisd to keep the railwaja in repair, but the Chinese Government maintains that the treaty rights of Japan do not include the right to lay down a new railway, and that, I moreover, Japan can only act in co-operation with China in this matter. Several weeks ago the difficulty approached a crisis', owing to the continued procrastination of the Chinese, and owing also to the departure of the Viceroy of Manchuria for a prolonged holiday. As nothing could be done on the part of China in the absence of that important official, the Japanese have apparently taken the bull by the horns and gone on with the work independently of Chinese co-operation altogether. To the Chinese this appears, perhaps naturally, a very high-handed proceeding. A foreign Power is layine down a railway m Chinere territory against the .will of the local representative of the Chinese Government. But Japan has consistently pushed her treaty rights *ii! Manchuria, to the utmost possible limit, while in Korea, which was not strong enough to make any resistance, she has ignored her obligations altogether.

The result has been that Korea, which was intended according to I the Treaty of Portsmouth to remain an independent Kingdom, has become an appanage of Japan. Possibly the irritation in China has been caused by an apprehension that Japan proposes to bring Southern Manchuria as completely under her control as she has already brought Korea. Japan's action in proceeding to construct a line of h€r own from a point on the Korean frontier to Mukden is a pretty good indication that she intends to remain in Manchuria. Although this particular step on the part of Japan is only one of many indications that she intends to make the most of her permissive occupancy of Southern Manchuria, the probabilities are that the Chinese Government will perform a back-down

with as little loss of "face" as pos | sible. Tha recollection of the last j and most disastrous war with Japan is still fresh in China, and though the stirring of the national consciousness has been apparent during the last few years China is not yet in a position to set her powerful little island neighbour at defiance. Her navy was virtually destroyed by Japan in the Chino-Japanese war. and China at present has only a cjuple of second-clas3 cruißers and a few third-class cruisers and torpedo craft to oppose to the mighty battleship and cruiser squadrons that Japan keeps ready forjnstant war. J t is true that the Chinese Army has recently been reorganised as a

lational'force, instead, of being as litherto, a mere collection of provincial detachments, without coherency, let alone uniformity of drill, training, and equipment As the new army of China has been organised and trained by Japanese military | officers, the Government at Tokio must be in possession of the moßt exact information as to its strength and capacity. At present the new territorial divisions of the Chinese army probably include no more than about ,50,000 men, though all the foreign attaches agree in praising their thorough efficiency. China has everylhing to lose, therefore, and nothing to gam by defying the Tokio Government in this railway question, and it is certain that the British Government will exert all its influence in order to induce the Government at Peking to give way. Time is working on the side of China. In another ten years, if all goes well with the ra-organisation of her navy and army, she should be able to give Japan notice to quit Manchuria. But in the meantime the odds are all against her. Th* position of Graat Britain would be full of anxiety in the event of another Chino-Japanese war, because under the terms of her treaty with Japan should any other Power, say Russia, for examDle, take sides with China, theD Great Britain would be obliged to go to the assistance of Japan. That is an eventuality which, considering the situation that confronts Great Britain in Europe, cannot be contemplated with equanimity.