Manchurian Backgrounds I

Abstract

0 WESTERN observers Manchuria has seemed at once the of the Far East and the of -the Balkans because it is a potential danger spot due to conflict of interests between Russia, Japan, and China, the Land of Promise because it has been a haven of refuge of millions of Chinese from China proper, torn with civil war and ridden with famine, and also because Japan sees in the development of its vast natural resources a solution for her embarrassing problem of overpopulation. But two years ago Russia and China came to blows over the Chinese Eastern Railway. Now it is Japan and China which have come into collision, thus forcing the Land of Promise to the background for the moment and pushing the Balkans to the fore. For the purpose of this article we may disregard the Russian side of the Manchurian triangle, and confine ourselves to China and Japan with a view to finding out the causes of their enmity which unfortunately came to a head in the clash between the Chinese troops and the railway guards at Mukden on the night of September 18 last.