Evening star., 1946-03-10
Chinese Red Risinq
Feared as Soviet
Gives Up Garrison
BY the Associated Press

AA1a1N ~ @A&AAs oaAaNayY Mdl. ~
Russian troops have with
drawn completely from Mukden
but the situation there is tense
with fires of undetermined origin
raging and a Communist up
rising feared, the Chinese Gen.
tral News Agency reported today
The news agency said fires hac
broken out in several parts of The
city but shed no light on their origin
or extent.
The agency dispatch said alleged
Chinese Commu:list forces were
active in the suburbs and it was
feared they might attempt to seize
control of the hungry, sprawling
city of 100000.
Before evacuating the city, the
Russians turned over their garrison
duties to the Chinese. A Chinese
Central Government force of some
$4,000 men has been in Mukden for
some weeks, but until the Russian
evacuation was restricted to a lin
tied section of the city and actual
control had been i. Russian hands
There was no estimate of the
strength of the alleged Communist
forces in the area.
Tralnloads of Russian troops from
Mukden already have arrived in
Changchun, the Manchurian capital
the Central News said, and others
travelled south to Port Arthur where
the Sino-Soviet treaty authorizes
Russia to station troops.
Withdrawal Not Yet General.
The agency dispatch did not say
whether the troops arriving in
Changchun were in transit to more
distant points or were unloading
there. 1t is said the Soviet with
drawal from Mukden began Thurs
day and was completed yesterday.
with the bulk of the troops moving
northward.
High Chinese quarters in Chunk
king said they did not regard the
Mukden evacuation as necessarily
indicating a general Russian with
drawal from Manchuria. These
sources said they had not received
any information SO far suggesting
that a general withdrawal was un-
der way and that until they did so
they would not be too optimistic.
Nevertheless the news that Man.
churia's largest city was in Chinese
hands again after more than IA
years of foreign occupation was
greeted with relief in Chungking
and eased some of the tension
aroused in recent weeks over Man.
churian developments.
Chinese reports said $50 Central
Government officials assigned to
take over administration of the vast
territory would be at their posts by
tomorrow. They are being flown
into Manchuria in chartered planes
American correspondents who re-
Gently visited Mukden found its
hundreds of japanese built factor
les stripped of their machinery,
They were told by the Russian COM
mander that japanese troops cap
tured in Manchuria had been
shipped to Siberia and that the Rus
slams had no repatriation program
in mind.
Acts to Fix Responsibility.
Meanwhile, 1t. Gen. Albert Wede-
meyer, commander of American
forces in China, told correspondents
here yesterday that he had taken
appropriate steps, as theater COM
nander, to ascertain my RESPONSE
bility in Manchuria.' %
Gen. Wedemeyer said Manchuria
always had been considered part of
his China theater command, and
that if the Russians had not been
advised of the American plan for
repatriating Manchurian japanese
they certainly will be in the very
near future"
Asked to define his own respori-
sibility regarding repatriation of
japanese in Manchuria, Gen. Wede-
meyer replied that even Secretary
of State Byrnes had given mo
clearcut answer" to that.
Terms of the Japanese surrender
last Autumn provided that all Jap
anese prisoners of war would be
returned to Japan.
Gen. Wedemeyer said any word
regarding the dispatch of truce
teams into Manchuria to forestall
fighting between Chinese teams and
government troops would have to
come from Gen. George c. Mar
shall, special American envoy and
member of the truce commission.
Gen. Marshall has been sum-
moned to Washington by President
Truman, presumably to discuss the
Manchurian situation. He is ex-
(See MANCHURIA, Page A-5.)