The Washington herald., 1922-01-23
SHANTUNG issue
TEST OF PARLEY,
SAYS SIMONDS
Action This Week Likely
To Decide Success
Or Failure.
By FRANK H. SIMONDS.

There have been so many crises"
in the present arms conference that
il is perhaps useless to describe the
coming week as critical And yet
the fact remains that unless some
solution of the Shantung dispute Ia
found In the next six days. the con-
sequences are bound 20 be grave
and may be compleIels7zdisas
This is true not alone with respect
to the conference itself and the sue
cess or failure in the negotiations.
but IL is even more the case on the
political side. as recent evenCs in the
Senate have shown.
As TO the Shantung question. the
situation is this: There have been
some thirty meetings between the
Japanese and the Chinese which
have led to agreement upon certain
minor details, but so far have failed
to touch the single vital question,
which is that of the railroad. Today
the Chinese and the japanese are
just as far apart as they were at
the moment the Washington con-
ference opened.
Chinese Losing Hope.
Optimism which envisages an ul-
timate surrender on the part OF Ja-
pan still exists and has found Off
cial expression in American and ia
panese quarters, but not in Chinese.
In point OF fact il is not an exag-
geration to say that the Chinese DEL
esates here are beginning to aban-
don nope OF obtaining any real sat
isfaction upon this question.
Actually this means that the Chi
nese are already contemplating a
refusal TO sign that nine-power
treaty which was planned to cover
the Chinese settlement. or the three
Chinese delegates, Justice Wang
VIII leave Washington on Saturday,
All those familiar with the Chinese
delegation know that for a Ions
tme he has been totally dissatisfied
with the course which the negptia-
uons have taken; that he once con-
sloered resiEninE many weeks ago.
and that now he is going horne in
advance Of any possibility of arlx-
ing mis- signature TO any agreement.
Dr. koo May Fail TO Sign.
The probability that Or. Koo will
also iail to sign the so-called nine
power treaty is today recognized
on all sides. II is true that great
pressure Is being exerted upop him
ooth by Americans and by British:
IL is true that all kinds Of repre-
sentauons are being made to the
Pekin government TO persuade n 70
exercise Its authority and its m
nuence to obtain DR.. Koo's sigma
ture. Nevertheless, the best infor-
nation obtainable at this moment
all tends to corroborate the impress
sion that DR.. Koo will follow the
course he adopted with respec, OF
the treaty OF Versailles and refuse
to sign any or all of the Washing
ton documents which are submitted
to China
There remains the case Of Min
lister Sze. For several weeks there
has been a general report that he
might prove more plant and less
OBSTINATE than his associates and
that this signature might. under
certain circumstances. be obtained
for the Washington treaties.
Friends Of DR.. Sze, however, have
stesoily denied this. In any event,
there Is common agreement that
no one Of the Chinese delegates ex-
| cept Dr. Sze will sign the proposed
treaties.
-. Fear L. 8. support Of Japan.
Among Chinese sy-mpafhizers
there has been in the past week a
good deal Of Apprehension and re-
sentiment growing out of the fact
that both the Japanese and the Brit
ish nave been measursbly success
fui In establishing IN certain Amer
lean directions an unexpected an
preciation Of the japanese side or
the Shantung controversy. some OF
these friends of China have pro-
tested IN my hearing that the whole
weight and d1nnuenee OF the United
states at the present time is being
directed not toward persusdinS
japan to make concessions, but in
striving to bring China 10 agree 10
surrender.
A significant sign Of this opera
A 49,