Evening star., 1938-08-05
Russo.Japanese Peace.


Exchange of peace terms by Russia
and Japan in diplomatic conferences at
Moscow and Toxic yesterday eased
measurably the worlds headache over
the Siberian Manchukuoan border
clashes, but it went even further to ex-
plain what actually was behind events
in the Changkufeng area since last Sun
day.
The Russian and Japanese official
agencies have belched forth a flood of
conflicting reports of the fighting. They
served only to becloud the issue of who
was taking the initiative in the scrap,
which it is important to note has not
spread to any other part of the Manchu-
Siberian frontier.
Moscow denied responsibility and ac-
which was clearly Russian. Toxic re-
piled in kind, but went further by claim
ing that it's military forces had repulsed
the Russians attacks and expelled them
from Japanese territory. Saving face
at home!
Sufficient evidence is now available to
support the belief that neither Russia
nor Japan, contrary to general opinion,
wanted war or is likely to want war in
the very immediate future. The border
clashes if they are finally settled, will
have blasted a lot of theories that Russia
and Japan are mad dogs straining at
the leash to get at one another. But
both sides appear to be bent on pre-
venting such result.
There may be an underlying hostility
between the two governments which at
some future time will bring them to
decisive conflict, but it will have to be
when both of them are secure on other
fronts, Russia in Europe and Japan in
China. AS long as Germany continues to
menace the U. S. S. R. in Europe by
threatening Czechoslovakia or yearning
for the rich Ukraine, Russia will
scarcely desire a war 5000 miles away
from her huge centers of population.
AS long as Japan is engaged in China,
and it may be a long time, the Toxic
militarists are going to be chary about
running afoul OF the Soviet military ma
chine So, at least for the present,
Russia and Japan appear to be headed
for nothing worse, perhaps, than periodic
frontier skirmishes.
Although the peace offer OF the Japan
ese, as it was reported in the press, evi-
denced a sincere desire for settlement
which would let them give their undivided
attention to China, the proposals of Rus
sian Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinof
to Ambassador Shigemitsu were not SO
equitable. Japan is reported to have
proposed mutual withdrawal from the
disputed area leaving the determination
OF boundaries to a commission. Russia
on the other hand insisted upon recog-
milton of Russo Chinese treaty Of 1886,
which she claims places the disputed
Changkufeng area within Soviet terri
tory. Russia's aim apparently remains
not to permit the japanese to feel too
secure along the Manchukuoan border.
In this way she can continue to be of
service to China by preserving poten-
tial, If not an immediate, threat against
Japan.
The japanese terms move one to
speculate how easy it would have been
to settle the Marco Polo Bridge incident
Of July, 1897, if Toxic had assumed as
conciliatory an attitude then toward
China as she does now toward Russia.
The comparison proves one thing: That
japan will bow, but only to threat or
use of superior force In this case it
was the combined forces of China and
Russia.