JAPAN AND THE LEAGUE
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sin,—It seems to be necessary now to point out that the rights and the wrongs of the case in the dispute between Japan and China are becoming slightly beside the point, since it is evident that Japan is determined to establish herself not only in Manchuria but also in Mongolia. The more the League deliberates on the matter, the more surely is it delivering these Chinese dependencies into the hand of a power capable of becoming in a quarter of a century from this date the overlord of all Asia. If the Chinese themselves in this matter have been ineffective and dilatory, weak-kneed and remiss, how much more so has the League of Nations ? Unfortunately, it is the policy of this country which has so largely set the pace and called the tune in this doleful passage in diplomatic records. On the top of this, to discover The Times, the leading news- paper, playing Sir Walter Raleigh to a Japanese Queen Elizabeth, must be nauseating to every self-respecting English, man.
" If the League [says its leader on February 18th, 1933] has not intervened by force to prevent the occupation of the "Three Eastern' provinces, it would be inconoiatent and unreasonable (my italics) to attempt to exercise force to prevent the extension of the process to a province that has for some years been regarded as part of Manchuria, and has all along been included in the State of Manchukuo by its creators."
Sir, I have not seen the Japanese atlas, which shows Jehol to be a part of Manchuria, but my wall map (Stanford's Library and Commercial Map of Asia) shows Jehol to be dis- tinctly a part of Inner Mongolia. Also, as an (up till now) dutiful partisan of the League, I have no cognizance of the " State of Manchukuo," though The Times has no scruples in accepting the Japanese version of the matter. Should the Japanese proceed into the neighbouring province of Chahar, are we to understand that it will be " unreasonable and inconsistent" to object in any forceful manner ? Supposing- the Japanese decide that the possession of Vladivostock is necessary to their future plans—this port and the Amur Province having once been a part of the Chinese dominions— will it be unreasonable and inconsistent on the part of Russia to demur ? Or should Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan) appeal to the marauding eye of Japan, are we to sit clown, with both Russia and the Japanese in the Pamirs and at the gates of India, accepting the situation with folded hands on the grounds of reason and consistency ?
I see nothing whatever in the attitude of the League--or in the policy of the Government or Press of this country—that is likely to deter the Japanese from mowing the Chinese down with their machine guns to their heart's content. I see nothing to prevent the Japanese from passing through the Great Wall by the next convenient gate and taking Peking, installing their Emperor on the throne of the Manchus. This would enable them, in the course of a few years, to build a fleet in Chinese yards, which, with that they already possess, would effectually put finis to a European say in Far Eastern affairs.
This is not a situation which can be tolerated, and if nothing further is done by the " mandarins " at Geneva, then it is Britain which should leave the League (since Japan won't), taking counsel with America—and with America alone—as to the steps to be taken in regard to this great threat which overhangs Asia and the Pacific.—I am, Sir, &e.,
Previous page
