The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-11-18
THINKS U. S. STAND
ENCOURAGED CHINA
TO MAKE DEMANDS
SimOnds Says Pekin Ges-
ture Is Regarded as
American.
BY FRANK IL. sIMONDs.

Thanks to the Chinese offensive
on Wednesday, the situation is now
squarely up to Japan. 1t remains
for her to disclose her own hand in
the Far East, and for the moment
Japanese strategy seems to be hesi-
tating between a counter offensive
and a passive defense.
1t is true, however, that there is
"A marked inclination in well-in-
formed quarters to regard the Chi
nese gesture as far less Chinese
than American. There is very good
the ten proposals made by China
Wednesday were made at the in
stance of the United States for
the double purpose of placing China
on record and opening the way for
a Japanese declaration.
The "Ten Commandments.,
! am reliably informed that China
only reluctantly yielded to Ameri-
can suggestion in making her pro-
posals which have already become
the Ten Commandments of the Chi
nese situation. 1t is not suggested
that the United States government
had anything to do with the charac-
ter of the Chinese proposals. al
though they bear a striking resem-
blance to certain American PROPOSE
tiOns which have been advanced in
recent years and days. but It is in
diCated that China would never have
moved as she did without American
impuIsion
Nevertheless. the value of the Chi
nese move to American strategy has
been somewhat diminished nv the
fact that the Chinese proposals were
vague in the extreme. Moreover
the japanese have for the moment
eIuded the necessity of a definite
utterance by perfectly reasonable
request that China indicate what
she means by each of her ten pro-
p"HaIs, ana do what, outside of dip
lomatlc language, we call get down
70 prdSs tacks. The mere West
erner knows so little about the reaI-
itieS or the methods of the Oriental
nllhd-and some of the methods of
thought and of action are so diff
terent from our own - that it is
loollsh in the extreme to undertake
l" interpret Chinese or japanese
moves or to do more than show
what they seem to mean.
with Japan on One Subject,
~ is worth recalling, too. that
"hIIe China and Japan are sepa-
rated on every question they are
united IN their desire to keen the
west out of the East, and China
VIII nave the solid support of Japan
against any project which suggests
International control. political or
economic. for China. with the nos
slble exception of that of the four-
power COnsOrtium.
Now given the fact that China
ana Japan are united on this ona
large issue, il seems less sure that
tney are separated on others. Is the
Ihlnese policy real or is IL inspired
oy japanese influence? ObyiousIv
these questions cannot be answered
now out everyone who undertakes
10 estimate the China-Japanese sItu-
alton must at every moment ask
himself these questions.
Except tor these complexities. one
would say outright that the Chinese
maneuver Wednesday placed the ia
panese in an embarrassing position.
placed them on the defensive, and
would ultimately force them to
make disclosure of their position.
Japanese Admit Surprise.
Such a disclosure. il is clear.
would take one OF two forms. The
Japanese may initiate Mr.. Hughes
and come out with broad, gem
eral declaration covering the whole
subject CT the Far East. They may
on the contrary accept the Chinese
proposals as the basis for discus
sion and express their opinion on
each of the ten propositions as 1t
is discussed in the committee. My
Japanese friends tell me this latter
course is now the one that has
momentary support. They also ten
me that they were taken by surprise
by the Chinese proposal, and they
express admiration for the skill
with which the Chinese seized the
initiative. This is the japanese
statement
There is still another interesting
angle. I am again told by my Japa-
nese friends that there Is a profound |
difference of opinion in the Japanese
delegation as to the wisdom or up-
wisdom of the suggestion that the
japanese ratio of naval strength be
increased from to Z: 1. e., from
SO 10 70 per cent. At least among
the Japanese journalists. who are
more closely in touch with Ameri-
can opinion than their statesmen.
there Is strong feeling that the
will make a mistake II
1t does not accept Mr.. Rugney
Continued ON Poaa Gia.