The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-05-25
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
| Especial Despatch to The Reformer9
| Copyright 1921.
/ WASHINGTON, May 25.-Japan has
| selected the present time as particularly
trropitiouS for settlement of existing
| differences with China because for the
/ first time in many years a cabinet has
been placed in power in Picking which
seems to regard Japanese-C hineSe en-
/ tente worth while.
Everybody here is watching with in
| tense interest the new developments in
| the Far East for the bearing they may
have on policies of the United States and
! other powers. The announcement in the
| Toxic dispatches that Japan is willing
] to negotiate with China for the return
| of Shantung appears on the surface 10
contain a new development but inyeSti-
, cation diScloSeS that Japan has merely
offered to the Chinese government some
| thing that preceding administrations in
| Picking Rejected chance to arrive at n
settlement of the Shantung controversy
on the basis of the Versailles peace
treaty. The Chinese delegates at the
/ Paris conference refused to sign the
! peace treaty because it awarded Shan
tung To Japan and. indeed. ScorHed the
| japanese offer to negotiate directly with
! China. But since then China has joined
| the league of nations, and has become a
member of the council on an equal basis
with Japan. so that in the event that any
negotiations between China and Japan
/ over Shantung are Inconsistent with the
Versailles treaty or the covenant. China
still has Il court of last appeal. But the
suspicion here that the Japanese have at
! last convinced Il government in China
4 that a basis of settlement between the
Il Al Al
portunities for Japan and China to 20
hand in hand in many other Far East
| ern policies will be enhanced If the world
| sees China and Japan settling their diff
| ferences over Shantung without the in
! PREVENTION of a third influence.
| OF course Japan offers To give back
| Shantung To China BY which is meant
only a small piece of territory. namely.
! the city of Using Tao, but Japan has not
offered TO relinquish all the various
| rights and concessions on both sides of
the railway which penetrateS the prov
ince of ShaHung. To maintain japanese
rights in that region. a jurisdiction
creiguty' but amounts to the same thing,
! is virtually asked by Japan on the ground
| that European governments have similar
rights in other parts Of China.
/ japan always said she would give back
! the city Of Using Tao. and that She mere
ment there similar to the international
| settlements in other cities in China.
These were details left by the Paris peace
conference for direct negotiations be-
| tween japan and China. The bitterness
against Japan has prevented any Chi
ncSe government thus far from negutiat-
ing with Japan. The japanese have Of
fercd to do so time and again. 1t remains
to be seen whether the Chinese arc ready
to talk it over. If they are. then the
impression here that the new Picking cab
met is friendliCr TO the Japanese than its
predecessor will be confirmed There is
incidentally Il good deal of rumor and
gossip coming out of the Far East again
about an alliance between Japan and
China, working agreement along the
lines of Asia for the ASiaticS. but
while these rumors have been cropping
out ever since the kaiser started the
yellow peril" idea the only interest they
| possess ut this time is that Japan and
China really appear to be getting to-
gether. China itself * torn by civil war
III which the claim of the southern rebels
is that the northern government has from
the days of Nuan-Shi-kai been too friend
ly to the Japanese. Should Japan and
China settle the Shantung controversy
amicably, it would remove some of the
objections which have been raised in
/ America to the Versailles treaty, for if
China were satisfied with the Japanese
proposals. the outside governments would
have little ground for complaint.