In one important respect the Chinese could learn a valuable
lesson from Japan. When Japan emerged from her hermit state and desired to place herself in free contact with the outside world she had an even longer road to travel than lies before China now. Yet with wonderful industry and care she equipped herself for the new method of life, and when it began, the outside world was conscious of hardly any strangeness or inconvenience. That was a remarkable performance, and in spite of all our sympathy with Chinese Nationalism we must point out.-the essential weakness of the present Chinese policy ofprofessing to negOtiat;e about the Treaties while actually ' tearing them up. China as a member of the League of Nations has specially given her word to honour treaties. It may be said that the Kuomintang is not China. But then Mr. Chen explicitly declares. that it is.
