Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-05-26
JAPS AND CHINESE
NEAR AGREEMENT
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
iLeased Wire Service to The Journal.)
Copyright, 1929

WASHINGTON. May 25.-Japan
has selected the present time as par
ticularly proptious for a settlement
of existing differences with China,
because for the first time in many
years a cabinet has been placed in
power in Pekin which seems to re-
gard a Chinese entente as
worth while.
Everybody here is watching with
intense interest the new develop
ments in the Far East for the bear
ng they may have on policies of the
United States and other powers. The
announcement in the Toxic dis
patches, that Japan is willing to ne
gotiate with China for the return of
Shantung, appears on the surface to
contain a new development but in
vestigation discloses that Japan
merely has offered to the new China
government something that preced
ing administrations in Pekin reject
ed-a chance to arrive at a settle
ment 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 Warded Shantung
to Japan and indeed scorned the
Japanese offer to negotiate directly
with China. But since then China
has joined the League of Nations and
has become member Of the council
on an equal basis with Japan. so
that in the event that any negotia-
tions between China and Japan over
Shantung are inconsistent with the
Versailles treaty or the covenant,
China still has a court Of last APP
peal.
Offers to Return shantung
But the suspicion here is that the
Japanese at last have convinced
government in China that a basis of
settlement between the two coun-
tries does exist and that the oppor-
hand in hand in many far eastern
policies will be EXCHANGED if the
world sees China and Japan settling
their differences over Shantung with
out the intervention of third in
f1uence
Of course Japan offers to give back
Shantung to China by which is meant
only a small piece of territory, name
ly 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 pene-
trates the province of Shantung. To
maintain Japanese rights in that re-
gion, a jurisdiction which may not
be legally called Sovereignty" but
amounts to the same thing. virtual
ly
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 merely wanted to maintain a
Japanese settlement there similar to
the international settlements in 9TH
err cities in China.
"Details Left over
These were details left by the
Paris peace conference for direct ne
citations between Japan and China.
prevented any Chinese government
thus far from negotiating with ia
pan. The Chinese have offered to do
SO time and again. 1t remains to be
seen Whether the Chinese are ready
the impression here that the new
Pekin cabinet is friendlier to the
Japanese than it's predecessors will
be confirmed.
There is, incidentally, a good deal
of rumor and gossip coming out of
the Far East again about an alliance
agreement along the lines of Asia
for the Asiatics" but while these ru-
mors have been cropping out ever
since the kaiser started the yellow
peril idea, the only interest they
possess at this time is that Japan
and China really appear to be get
ting together. China itself is torn
by civil war IN which the claim of
the southern rebels is that the north
ern government has from the days of
Yuan-Shi-Kai been too friendly to
the Japanese.
Should Japan and China settle the
Shantung controversy amicably it
would remove some of the objec-
tions which have been raised In
America to the Versailles treaty for
! if China were satisfied with the Japa-
nese proposals, the outside govern
ments would have little ground for
com nj q int