Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-04-18
JAPAN DRIVES HARD
DEAL WITH CHINA
Secret Negotiations Over Shan
tung Settlement Are Now
in Progress.
STUDENT IS PROTESTING
Nippon Comes to Rescue Of
Military Clique With
Huge Loan.
STUDENT IS PROTESTING
ny JOSEPH TIMMoNs,
,ersnI Service stan Correspondence.


Universal Service stan Correspondence.
PEkING. March 10 by mai).--
Secretly. direct negotiations between
Japan and China. unoiIicially. for the
"restoration of ShantunS are being
conducted. Meanwhile China trcmblcs
on the brink of revolution.
Representatives. OF the Mitsui Com
pany. the Okura Company and the
Yokohama Specie Bank have been
giving elaborate banqucts to Chinese
government officials. IT is known
definitely that at these banque,s tho
Japanese have been urging upon the
officials the necessity and wisdom OF
direct negotiations, and have been
clevcrly broachinE 10 them tn. terms
upon which Japan will return to
China the lease for the region around
kiaochou Bay.
This season of banqueting preceded
and Tapped over the Chinese New
Year period. beginning February 90
and lasting five days. II is an excel
lent time to put things over" with
the vigilance of the oppositions re-
Taxed
Drives Hard DarRain.
Meanwhile. in the same period.
Japan has come TO the rescue of IN.
lard pressed government OF the mill
tary clique with a loan of Is 900 600
Specie Bank. once more the Japanese
have obtained secret advantages by
advancing loans. No one knows the
actual terms. but since the govern
ment had to have money to tide il
over this annual settlement date there
can be no doubt that the Japanese
drove q hard bargain
From all over China there has come
up TO the capital the mos; vigorous
z. nst "a
| Students unions, merchants guilds
/ and street unions, chambers OF com
/ mercc etc. in all parts of China have
mem orial.zcd the Picking government.
/ demanding that il refrain from iii
/ rect negotiations and stand pat on
'he plan of appca! TO the league OF
nations Nowhere has this opposl-
! t!on manifested Itself more clcarl,
and couragcously than in Picking and
! Tientsin.
Protests Negotiations.
Even General Wang-I-Tang, an
Anfu Club man and member of the
ruling military clique. who has been
Tor months at Shanghai trying 10 in.
duce the representatives OF the south
eFn faction. or Canton government. 10
enter into peace" negotiations with
him. recently sent i. telegram 10
ieking strongly advising against di.
| rect negotiations
l.u ChenE -hsiang, Minister of For.
eign Affairs, who has recently re.
turned from Paris. where he was the
chief peace delegate for China, has
gone away TO T!cntsin, pleading i'll
ness. he refuses TO become res pons
Bile for the decision upon Japan.s ofrar
OF direct negotiations.
Authority Lacking
Chen Lu, Vice Minister OF Foreign
AHairs. has also abScntcd himself
from his Office, 80 that there is no
one at the Foreign Office with au-
ihority To open direct negotiations
Inc rest of the Cabinet is split.
MOST OF them desire direct neEotia
tons. but also most of them fear "a
go counter 10 the new manffcsta,ion
OF an awakening of the people Ia
Patriotic ardor. The student move
! ment stands between the CORRUPT
government and this latest oppor.
/ tunity to gather riches and power by
I selling out TO Japan
would Create Revolution.
Old Marshal Tuan Chi-jui. the
/ powerful head OF the militarist he
trayers OF China, advised a few DAYS
ago that all schools in China be
closed till the student should become
reasonable and abandon the move
meht. The clearer seeing younger
OF his following refused to accent
his advice. They saw that such dras-
tic action would be the surcst way
10 create revolution that would
swamp them.
So policy OF steady pressure has
been adopted. The Japanese minis
/ ter. Obata. and locally the japanese
/ consuis. have been vaguely threaten
! ing dire things il the boycott of
Japanese goods was not abandoned
or III in other ways the student move
~ f..r 10 ...t
htsc nationals. Holding the danger
! OF Japanese invasion over ihc heads
| OF the stYdents ana merchants the
government officials and military and
evil governors Of provinces who be-
| Tong TO the clique have been issuing
mahiiestoes against student activi-
Ties. forbiddinG meetings and paradeS
and in places where they dare TO do
IL, closing student headquarters and
otherwise making the movement an
outlawed and perilous thing.
To CamouhnEe Restoration.
Whlie the student movement is
thus adroitiy held in check. the secret
and unofficial negotiations concern
ing Shantung go on. The scheme APP
parcntly is to arrive at an under
standing under which Japan will an
nounce some day that she has de-
cidcd to restore" Shantung without
negotiations. Secretly she will have
gotten all that she wants in return
from sham restoration" Then il is
possible that withdrawal of her
troops from Tsingtao and the railway
and the return of the former German
lease to the Eiaochou BAY region, APP
parently without conditions, may de-
ceive and placatc enough OF the lead
ers of the student movement" to de-
prive 1t of its dangerous unity OF be-
lief and purpose.
Purpose of the Lonn.
AS to the latest Japanese loan OF
S5,O0o.o00: The Japanese. by object
ing to the inclusion OF Manchuria
and Inner Mongolia in the scopc OF
the proposed new bank consortium.,
have succeeded in blocking that plan
to loan TO China only Cor legitimate
purposes and to force China TO dis
band her useless armies In order to
get these loans.
However, there is this consolation
TO the rest Of the world. that this new
loan. under secret conditions, will be-
more fuel on the fire Of Chinese hatred
OK tho Japanese. The more that ma
tired Is famed by Japanese plumbers
! the more difficult becomes the Japa-
nese militnrist scheme to exploit and