THE FAR EASTERN CRISIS



  Speaking in strict confidence and not for publication, Dr. Wang
stated that in event of war between Soviet Russia and Japan, China
will not support either Power. Since taking over the portfolio of
Foreign Affairs, both the Japanese and the Soviet Russians have ap-
proached Dr. Wang with proposals for Chinese support in event of a
Russo-Japanese conflict, but he has turned a deaf ear to all such sug-
gestions. China realizes that a Russo-Japanese war would again be
fought principally on "Chinese soil" and would bring great hardship
and difficulty, particularly in the North, but there would be nothing
to gain from supporting either side. A victorious Japan would but
continue its encroachment in China. Soviet Russia can best demon-
strate its good intentions toward China by restoring Outer Mongolia
and terminating Communist influence in Kiangsi Province.
  Dr. Wang stated that he and General Chiang Kai-shek are definitely
in complete accord on the policy of refraining from support of either
Power in event of a Russo-Japanese war.
  Questioned as to whether there has been any change in the Chinese
attitude toward Japan on the Manchurian problem, Dr. Wang illus-
trated the Chinese position by stating that when a man with a sore
arm is struck a heavy blow by an antagonist he may have to fold his
arms for the time being but that this does not mean that he intends
to suffer the injury indefinitely.
  In reply to the suggestion that Japan's aggression in Manchuria
may not be essentially different from the imperialist expansion of
other Powers in the past at the expense of weaker States, Dr. Wang
pointed out that Manchuria is Chinese territory with a Chinese popu-
lation of 25,000,000 out of a total of 30,000,000, that there is no ques-
tion of "race" involved in the Manchurian question, that the people
of China are not content to allow Japan to seize a large area of
Chinese territory, that Japanese ambitions do not extend alone to
Manchuria but to all of China where Japan seeks domination similar
to British domination in India, and that the Chinese do not wish to
become "Indian Chinese".
  Asked whether he shares the opinion held in some quarters that
there has come about in the United States a change of attitude in
reference to Japan and the Manchurian question, Dr. Wang asserted
that he does not share any such opinion, that the United States may
not feel that Japan's bad manners toward China should be corrected
by resort to war, but that it does not follow that because the United
States has failed by peaceful means to obtain a modification of Japan's
aggressive attitude and a solution of the problems of the Pacific, the
United States is disposed to acquiesce in Japan's aggression.
  On the subject of the Communists in Kiangsi, Dr. Wang stated that
recent military successes assure the termination of this menace. He



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