Evening star., 1925-06-04
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL y. COLLINS.

+ in the Boxer troubles. or Compel
| lively. with imminent possibilities Of
international friction.
| Quoting the Peking correspondent
| of the London Times:
| Nothing will avail without unanim-
! ity among the powers, and without
| the resolution to go through it to the
| point, If necessary, of using force.
| The plan that seems to promise most
| and would cost least would be to Sc
cure a substantial increase in the
customs duties. The large surpluses
made available would be used as a
, basis for consolidation of the floating
debt and the provision for regular
| income for the government of the
day. AS an experiment. portion of
| the increased duties would be payable
| TO the provinces in place of all
1 internal charges on foreign goods in
/ transit, thus eliminating the many
| illegal exactions now prevalent.
| Provincial quotas would be with
| held from provinces violating the
agreement regarding internal taxes.
/ and foreign control would be insti-
| tuted on railways of which the work
/ ing was hampered by troops. If
when making these proposals, the for
| eign powers increa Sed their garrison
! in North China from the present ag-
! gregate of a brigade to a total of a
| division, the expense to each power
/ would be a trifle, and the moral ef-
| feet tremendous"
With this united military scheme in
| view, it is easier to understand The
movement of our four great battle
ships, ostensibly because some hum
dreds of cotton workers are out on
strike. 1t is not authoritatively indi-
Gated that the United States will lie
interested in increasing the garrison in
North China.
| *& y x
The deep.laid scheme of the Soviet
government to gain control of the
Chinese situation is manifested by the
appointment of a Soviet Ambassador
to Peking, where all other nations are
represented by ministers. The rank
of an ambassador made him the doyen
of the diplomatic corps. Ambassador
| Karakhan Immediately announced, as
doyen, that he would not allow any
united action by the diplomatic corps
with any international proposals to
the Chinese republic. He Furthermore
denounceS openly the extra territorial
rights of nations in China, and ap-
peals to Chinese patriots to free them
selves from foreign "capitalistic ma
tions" now depressing China-particu-
larly the United States.
| X
In consequence of this Soviet leader
ship, Young Chinese are raising the
cry "Chfna for Chineser' and threat
ening attacks upon all foreign devils. p"
/ In the face of the Russian appeal 10
Chinese patriotism to rebel against
foreign imperialistic demands, Am
bassador -Karakhan has himself de-
manded that all White Russians who
are now serving in the Chinese armies,
even though they have become Chi
nese citizens, shall be freed from the
service and no more be so employed.
On April 80 the China Press (printed
! in English and published in Shanghai
| reported a German ship had arrived
in the harbor, laden with arms and
! correspondent at Sumatra reported an
! other German ship with munitions of
| Italian make.
] Last March the China Review said
| Young Chinese men of the Young
China Society have decided that the
! best way for China was to enter rela-
! tions with Soviet Russia, introduce
communism. scrap religion, break up
| family relations, abrogate all 'un-
| equal treaties, and bring about gen
eral condition of anarchy and political
disorder, which would have the final
effect of bankrupting foreign institu-
tions in China and forcing them out Of
| the way DR.. Sun Yat-sen and his
Kuomintang party tradicaD have been
drifting that way and favor radical
| revolution rather than peaceful evolu-
| ton. He is reported as saying: We
are now -stibordinated, restrained, held
back by other nations. 1t requires
unanimous consent on the part of a
dozen nations for anything construC-
! tive to be done, and under the work
| ing of the treaties any one nation. no
matter how small and inconsequential
| in world affairs, has the power to
block everything when China wants
anything" Dr. Sun Yet-sen has
since died, but his party continues
with the same aims.l
The above is the viewpoint or the
radical and vocal elements of the
Chinese population, and this is what
gives the seriousness to the present
rioting and the strikes against for
efgn.owned manufacturing enterprises.
Copyright, 1925. by Paul Y. Collinsl