The Wilson times. [volume] (Wilson, N.C.) 1896-19??, 1921-11-04
PROBLEM Of OPEN
DOOR FOR CHINA
|S|NTERNANONAL
HER RESOURCES TEMPT
The Question is Who Will Help
Keep the "Open Door,
Open; the British Are Not
Anxious to Settle the Anglo
Japanese Alliance Until the
Question is Settled.
(By David Lawrence.
Copyright, 1921, by The Daily
Times.)

Washington, Nov. 3.-China has
always been a problem common tC
the six great powers-Great Britain
United States, Germany, Japan, Rus
sia and France.
Time and again efforts have been
made to float siX-power loans or five
power loans among banking groups
of all the major countries in an eff
fort to help put China on her feet.
Little by little the nations of the
world have been encroachng on her
domain Her undevelopcd resources
have been tempting to the alert busi-
ness men of other countries.
Concessions have been obtained in
all sorts of ways from the helpless
Chinese government which in recent
generations has really had no strong
central government but has moved
along with curious Indifference as
local governments and provincial au-
thorities have sprung up within the
immense empire.
The possession of railways means
a great deal to the nation which owns
and operates them in China. 1t in
sures access to the mines of the in
terror for the bringing out Of valuable
freights. British, American and Ger
man capital have been content to de-
velop railway enterprises without as
suming to obtain political control for
their respective governments of any
territory in China. The much talked
of province of Shantung with it's i'm
mense territory was never ceded to
Japan at the Paris peace conference
but the port which is practically the
door to Shantung province was given
Japan as we'll as jurisdiction over the
railway to the interior including a
thirty mile strip on each side of the
railway. 1t is true the Germans had
that very right and Japan was asking
only for that which Germany had for
feited through her defeat in the war.
Japan was asking for those rights as
her reward for ousting the Germans
from Kiachow and the Far East.
But that brought the rub. Would
the Japanese be content to operate
As the Germans had? Indeed, the Ger
mans entered into working agree
ments with British and other Euro
pean business men in the Far East.
1t was purely a commercial not a
political proposition. Would the
Japanese keep it commercial or use
lit to penetrate China politically and
get a hold on the administrative in
dependence Of China?
The Chinese thought so. They
openly said so. That's the basis for
their opposition to Japan's acquisi-
tion of one inch more Of foothCld in
China. It's a question of faith, of
trust or suspicion. The japanese pro-
test that they never break their
word, that they have only disinter-
ested motives and seek merely a
place for commercial expansion for
their already overpopulated country.
But the Chinese will not listen. Shar-
ing the Chinese suspicious are prac-
tically all the British, French and
American business interests in China.
They are violently anti-Japanese.
They expect their respective govern
ments to use their moral and physical
power to keep the Japanese from
overstepping the bounds of CONNER
cial necessity They Insist that the
open door shall mean an open door
and no discrimination.
Who will keep the "open door
open? Who will enforce the under.
standing? The British government
knows it cannot do it alone. Will the
United States help? That's why the
British are not anxious to announce
at this time what they will do witt
the Anglo-Japanese alliance. On,
lOontinued on pago 81