Evening star., 1934-10-28
MONGOLIA DANGER AREA
FOR JAPAN AND RUSSIA
Militaristic Toxic and Well.Armed So.
Wet Glare at Each Other-China
Stands Impotently By.

gols" attempt both to placate the
Mongols and increase Chinese pene.
tration. Both these purposes cannot
be satisfied.
The conflict between Chinese agra
rianism and Mongol nomadism Is fun
damental The millions of Chinese
farming families now settled in for
mer pastures Of the Inner Mongolian
provinces" could not be dispossesesd,
even II China desired to return the
land to the Mongols.
Chinese population in Inner Mongo-
liza Is now preponderant. Chinese COM
mercial interests in the cities that
have risen along the flank of the rail-
way are paramount. Chinese economy,
both urban and rural, is dominant.
Thus, the determination not to re-
turn real autonomy to the Mongols
was demonstrated recently by the il
lusory nature of the Independence"
granted by Marking following the re-
volt Of some Of the Chahar and
Suiyuan princes. Theoretically the
Mongols were to be permitted to form
two autonomous states. Nevertheless,
the administration remains essential
ly unchanged. Chinese economic con-
troll is unimpaired and Chinese mill
tarists still govern the provinces.
Back COLONIZATION" Schemes.
Moreover, the Marking government
blithely contra6ictS the spirit of the
independence grant by simultaneously
backing huge colonization" schemes.
This, Of course, is known to the
Southern Mongols, and may prove the
breaking point between them and
China. They realize that continual
ton Of their ties with China means
rapid obliteration. 1t Is thus inevi-
table that the Mongols should look
with hope toward any association that
promises relief.
For the princes, this association now
presents itself in the form of particle
patton in Manchoukuo, with a share in
the future expansions Of Japanese i'm
perialism; for the younger and more
radical "nationalists," in the shape Of
federation with bolshevized Outer
Mongolia, under the wing of the Soviet
Union. Either alliance offers posi-
bilities Of something which China
cannot give-a dignity of purpose in
life. common will to power.
In the hand that the Kuomintang
plays in the contest for Mongolia there
remains one interesting flgure-the
Panchen Lama, spiritual head of the
Buddhist Church of Tibet, as well as
Of Mongolia. With the recent death
Of the Dalai Lama and the vacancy
thus created in the papal throne at
LhaSa, the Panchen's Importance has
suddenly rocketed. Exiled from Lhasa
in 1923, he has ever since dwelt in
China, but today it is probable that he
will return soon to become virtual die
tator of Tibet. AS such he will also
command the Mongol priesthood. and
through it the princes.
Pampered by Nanking.
The Panchen Lama is much PAM
pered by Marking. Gen. Chang Kai-
shek and other Kuomintang leaders
frequently contribute to the spinning
Of his prayer wheels and reverently
solicit his blessings. 1t is not unnat-
ural that in return for the favors
Showered upon him he should repeat
edly voice his opposition to either
Mongolian or Tibetan separation from
China. But he is apparently quite
sincerely anti-Japanese and anti-Rus-
sian. Recently, talking with me in the
imperial palace in Peiping, which the
government had placed at his disposal,
he said that once he became ruler at
Lhasa he would do everything in his
power to keep Mongolia from joining
Manchoukuo. Yet it Is doubtful II, in
the end. his decision will be of crucial
import.
For the fate OF Mongolia Is now
being determined by events beyond the
| control either of Lamas or Chinese
generals-events shaped by Japan and
Soviet Russia. Thirty years ago it was
Manchuria that brought the two giants
Of the East into conflict; today 1t
promises to be Mongolia. Japan,
through the device of Manchoukuo,
has moved farther inland; Russia,
piled up around her, intensifies her ef-
forts to thwart Japan's plans.
But war or no war, there is already
one certainty: The mobile, saddle
loving. invincible free companions Of
the past, the magnificent Mongols, are
doomed to modernism
1t is no more possible to save this
last great nomadic people from the
inward drive Of machine economy and
the world Of settled men than it was
to save their distant kin, the Ameri-
can Redskin. 1t remains to be seen
whether the men who once conquered
and ruled virtually all the Old World,
and set up the largest empire history
has known. can adapt themselves to
the new without hreak-un as a natinn