New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-02-13
SCOPE or THE CHINESE PROPOSAL.

SCOPE or THE CHINESE PROPOSAL.
The State Departments proposal 10 the
poUers concerning China is assumed 10 he
that they shall unite in guaranteeing her neu-
,ralitv during the war and her integrity after
IT. If such are practically. its terms. an in
teresting question Is suggested. which may
,rova 10 he the cruN Of the whole matter.
That is. What is meant by China" In the APP
ulication Of the guarantee; Is II China proper
the OLD Middle Kingdom alone or is II the
whole Chinese Empire, including also Nam
churia Mongolia Eastern TJr5cStan ana llpet
I-pon The answer 20 that question depends not
ONLY, the scnpo Of application II the principle
which our government has Formulated. hut also
the attitude Of some Of tho powers toward H.
There has been hitherto little uncertainty as
10 the views Of our own government. II mas
shown bv the use OF TN" title the Chinese I'm
pire." or the Empire Of China that 1t has
meant 10 apply the principles OF territorial IN
tc-lity and the open door 90 the whole empire
from, The AMOR 10 the Hlmalayas. Great Brit
ann Is understood 10 take the same view Of the
present proposal. and 50 is Japan. We ar" not
sure that any other great power docs. Current
dispatches report that France h"sitatcs 10 in
cIUda Nancnuria within the operation Of the
r,,le rcrh9ps because she thinks 30 might be dis
l,1casip.. 20 bor aliv Russia. II was some time
AGO officially declared that Germany would not
include Mauchuria i'm any such agreement con
corning China the German chancellor making
that explicit statement to the RcichstaS IN q
discussion of the Anglo-Gcrman Chinese con
vention We do not recall any declaration or
Russians upon the matter. but there is reason 10
suppose that she. too. excludes Manchuria nuu
Mongolia from ali agreements concerning CHINA,
and thus argues that hcr appropriation Of Man
cburia would Doe no violation of the open door
rule.
Something may no doubt DO said upon both
sides Of the question. But il seems 70 us there
are several pretty convincing arguments 10
slipport the American view. One j. the fact Of
the use ~ the phrase the Chinese Empire
already referred TO. That obviously includes
the whole empire. Manchuria no less than HUI
Nan When the United States makes a pro
IpoSal concerning the Chinese Empire il
means the whole empire, and when other pow
crs assent 10 that proposal this country has a
right 10 assume they also mean the whole en-
pire. Another argument is the fact that the
present dynasty in China is OF Nanchurian
origin. whose religious metropolis is Moukden,
in Manchuria. and that therefore. to exclude
NanchurIa from China would be TO expatriate
the reigning dynasty. \ third Is the fact that
since the accession OF the Manchu dynasty
geocraphrrs have included at least Shing King,
the southern province Of Manchuria, part OF
China proper
One other argument has peculiar pcrtincnce
at the present time. Nine years ago Russia
France and Germany required Japan to with
draw from Port Arthur and ccde the Leao-
Tong peninsula back 10 China, on the ground
that alien possession Of that place would be
menace 20 Chinese sovereignty at Picking and
would imperil the integrity Of the empire and
Of the Middle Kingdom" Itself. If that argu-
ment against Japanese occupation Of Port Ar
thur was valid then. II would certainly seem 10
be valid against any alien occupation Of
the LeaO-Tong peninsula. and. indeed. of the
whole Manchurian province Of Shing-King. The
consistent and logical course would seem, then
to lie in the recognition Of China" as meaning
for diplomatic purposes. the whole Chinese En-
pire. and the application TO the whole Of that
realm Of the just and beneiicent principles OF
neutrality, territorial integrity and the open
door. That is not literally possible now, be-
cause an important part Of Manchuria is the
scene OF actual war, being occupied by one Of
the belligerents and attacked and invaded by
the other. 1t is not 10 be supposed that any
one proposes 20 ask Russia 20 retire from Man
churia now or 20 forbid Japan 10 attack her
that the war must be confined TO that part Of
the Chinese Empire now actually occupied by
one OF the belligerents. and must not be carried
into other parts, and that neither of the belg-
| erents viii be permitted TO take any part OF