How far has this attitude been genuinely abandoned ? The
original statement mentioned among other things that the preservation of China's territorial integrity was ardently desired by Japan—this less than three years after the • Manchurian coup. Now, after- the British Ambassador at Tokyo has declared explicitly that His Majesty's Government could not admit the right of Japan alone to decide whether any particular action, constituted a danger to peace and the integrity of China, and the American Ambassador has laid it down that no nation could, without the assent of other nations concerned, try to make its will conclusive in situations- which involved other people's rights, Mr. IIirota, the- Japanese Foreign Minister, protests that Japan will in all respects carry out her treaty obligations, par- ticularly those under the Nine Power Treaty. If that pledge is observed the skies will be clearer, for the Nine Power Treaty guarantees the territorial integrity of China and an open door for all the signatories of the treaty. But it is pertinent to observe that what was guaranteed- was the integrity of China as it existed in 1922—when Manchuria was incontestably part of China. Japan, which is leaving the League of Nations, clearly. desires to check the very proper and very valuable co-operation be- tween China and the League. The League Council will have that question before it next week, and the attitude of the different national representatives in the face of Japan's demonstration will be scrutinized with some vigilance.
