Feature Section
The Roanoke Rapids Herald
VOLUME 20 ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1935 NUMBER 79
China Charges Japs with ‘Autonomy’ Move
Will 5 States Be
Next Under Wing
of Nippon?
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
Twenty-five counties of
the province of Ilopei, In
North China, on November
v25 declared themselves di
vorced from the central Chinese
government at Nanking, and set up
an autonomous, or independent, gov
ernment under the leadership of
Yin Ju-keng, commissioner of the
demilitarized zone. The 25 coun
ties aggregate approximately 8,000
square miles and are inhabited by
5,000,000 people.
The Yin Ju-keng government, It
is believed, will prove to be the
first effective culmination of an
“autonomy” movement that may
gather under its wing the five prov
inces of North China, namely Hopei,
Chahar, Suiyan, Shansi and Shan
tung. Such autonomy for these
.provinces would mean the complete
failure of the Chiang Kai-shek dic
tatorship north of the Yellow river.
More than that, it would prob
ably mean the spread of the rapidly
expanding Japaneses empire farther
into the Asiatic continent until Jap
anese control on the continent
would be extended over an area ap
proximating China itself in size.
North China would become little
morv, than another Manchukuo.
To the average observer and cer
tainly to the Nanking government
the “autonomy” movement is pure
ly a Japanese project. Yin Ju-keng
is famed for his willingness to “co
operate” with Japanese military
leaders. His wife is a Japanese.
Japanese army officials have been
reported to have been fostering the
autonomy movement secretly for
many months. Only in the past few
weeks Maj. Gen. Kenji Doihara, of
the Japanese army intelligence
corps, and famed as the “empire
builder” of the “land of the rising
sun,” has arrived on the scene and
has openly worked for the secession
and autonomy of the five provinces.
It is certain that he will not be
satisfied with a victory only in a
few counties of one^ province. And
the Japanese army has backed him
up to the extent of warning Gen.
Ohiang Kai-shek not to interfere.
Quirks of Japanese Politics.
It Is, of course, true that Tokyo
has hinted that Doihara is overstep
ping his authority, and that Jap
anese troops have been mobilized
lately in these provinces only to
protect communications and main
tain order in the face of any civil
outbreaks or communistic uprisings.
However, it is customary for the
military faction in Japanese politics
to assume the aggressive, with the
rather mild objection of the civilian
government as something of a bluff
to appease the injury felt by for
eign nations who have interests in
areas where the Japanese empire is
expanding.
It is known that in Peiping and
Tientsin autonomy demonstrations
have been instigated by the Japa
nese. One of the most spectacular
demonstrations was in the latter
city, and was staged by 300 mem
bers of the famed Chinese “Dare-to
Die” army, many of them wearing
new uniforms closely resembling
those of the Japanese army. They
left their uniforms in their head
quarters in a lecture hall after
wards—for the Japanese soldiers to
collect. On occasions handbills ex
horting the populace to revolt in
favor of an autonomous government
have floated to earth under the roar
of airplanes—which could only
have been Japanese. Japanese sol
diers have constantly moved inland,
even through the Great Wall of
China, to make sure that no rail
road cars will be allowed to pass to
the south where they might be load
ed with troops of the Nanking gov
ernment and returned. Nipponese
army officials have confiscated Chi
nese school books and removed
from them passages which might he
construed as anti-Japanese. And
these same officials have repeatedly
been accused of hiring professional
cordingly, at a nod from Japanese
officials in Tientsin or Peiping, Chi
nese officials comply. Two outstand
ing examples of this were the re
cent retirement of the mayor of
Peiping, known to oppose the au
tonomy movement, and the return
of Chinese Minister of War Ho
Ying-chin from Peping to Nanking,
both at the suggestion of the Japa
nese officials.
Nanking’s protests to Tokyo are
ignored because of Japan’s insist
ence that the autonomy movement
is strictly of Chinese origin. Yet
it is known that in all of these
autonomous governments planned,
the administrations will have to be
decidedly pro-Japanese.
That the government of Yin Ju
keng in Hopei is to be the model
I
provinces to form an autonomous
state.
What Japan Wants.
What does all this “autonomy”
business mean for Japan, for North
China and the rest of the world?
For Japan it means political eco
nomic and industrial control of an
other great slice of territory that
once belonged to China. There is
much cotton in Hopei and opportu
nity for planting more, to take the
place of cotton that Japan must
now import from the United States
and from India. There is iron ore
and coal, vastly important In build
ing the naval parity which Japan is
demanding from Great Britain and
the United States, although not
enough iron and coal, according to
research scientists, to warrant the
TIENTSIN; EAST
This scene at Tientsin In 1932 is being re-enacted as Japanese troops are being massed in North China, !
where it is expected they will be used to enforce the declaration of “autonomous” governments in five prov
inces. Armored trains, such as the one shown at left above, have carried the troops inland. In the insets
are Gen. Ho Ying-chin (left), forced to vacate Peiping, and Gen. Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese dictator.
Chinese agitators (at 40 to 60 cents
a day) to stir up trouble.
The Japanese claim is that the
autonomous movement is a natural
one entirely founded and furthered
by the Chinese in the provinces in
volved. They point out that the
Nanking rule drains these already
poverty-stricken people by exces
sive taxes, and at the same time
gives them little or no benefit. But
the Chinese people in the territory
literally do not know what it is all
about. They are confused, bewil
dered. Like Chinese everywhere,
they have no interest in politics.
That, indeed, has been the chief
stumbling block in the path of Gen.
Chiang-Kai-shek’s attempt to unify
China under one government. To
the educated Chinese, an “auton
omy” movement is a joke.
Chinese Do Nippon’s Bidding.
Yet Nanking’s hands are tied.
While there are not enough Jap
anese troops in North China today
to enforce the rule of Japan’s army
chiefs, Nanking knows that troops
could—and would—be speedily dis
patched from Corea or Japan it
self to meet any emergencies. Ac
for other pro-Japanese autonomies
to come Is*apparent from his dec
laration :
“From today the demilitarized
zone will be separated from the
central government and will insti
tute and carry out an autonomous
regime as the first voice of a fed
eration of provinces with a view
toward maintaining peace in eastern
Asia.
“We, the undersigned, hope that
the people, the public organs and
the military and political leaders
of the various provinces will rise up
with us to suppress the criminals
and arch-enemies of the nation, to
draft a constitution, and choose
wise and able men for the adminis
tration of the country.”
This is directly in line with the
program desired for the five North
China provinces by Doihara, the
“empire builder.” And only a few
days after the proclamation, Gen.
Sun Cheh-yuan, commissioner of the
Chinese garrison at Peiping-Tien
tsin, upon whom Doihara is known
to have exerted extreme pressure,
circulated a telegram proclaiming
the Intention of Hopei and Chahar
expense and the responsibility of
complete Japanese conquest and
government of North China.
Such a complete subjection would
undoubtedly be ruinous to Japan,
already financially burdened as she
is. Much better to allow these
North China provinces to govern
themselves, under the “protecting”
wing of the Japanese army of oc
cupation, with free trade privileges
for Tokyo.
Great Britain, the United States
and other powers would be far more
seriously hurt commercially by the
establishment of a “Manchukuo of
North China” than they were by
the establishment of the present
Manchukuan rule Itself, for their
commercial interests in North
China are much greater, as a re
sult, Secretary of State Hull and
Sir Samuel Hoare, British minister
of foreign affairs, simultaneously
demanded Japanese explanation of
apparent violations of the Nine
Power treaty which guarantees the
territorial integrity of China. This
treaty, signed by the nine leading
powers of the world, with the ex
ception of Itussia, at the Washing
ton conference in 1922, was formed
as the organic international law to
apply to all future controversies In
the Far East. All of the signatories
are hound to respect not only the
sovereignty and territorial Integ
rity of China, hut the administra
tive integrity as well. Secretary
Hull claims that tills provision is
directly involved at the present
time, because “an effort is being
made to bring about a substantial
change in the political status and
condition of several of China’s
northern provinces.”
Other provisions of the treaty
bind the signatories not to support
any agreements designed to create
“spheres of influence” for their na
tionals. And still another requires
them not to seek “any arrangement
which might purport to establish In
favor of their interests any gen
eral superiority of rights with re
spect to commercial or economic de
velopment of any designated region
of China.”
Claim Treaty Was Misnomer.
Japan’s claim is that such, a thing
as the territorial and administra
tive integrity of China never ex
isted.
Political economists believe that
the best any central Chinese gov
ernment ever will do is administer
a part of China. Much of what is
known as China is poorer than even
the heavily populated cities, even
though its population is compara
tively sparse, in five of the north
western provinces, which make up
29 per cent of the total area, there
is only 5 per cent of the population,
and because of the poor quality of
the land this population is difficult
to support.
Also, much of China is too back
ward to bq governed well. For in
stance, there is the province of
Szechuen; it has 50,000,000 inhab
itants and not a single mile of rail
road !
The Communist threat is always
present, the Communist army in
China having been estimated at
100,000. But the Communists have
virtually passed as a political party
to be reckoned with as they were
before the downfall of their leader,
Borodin, in 1927, when Gen. Chlang
Kai-shek’s Kuomintang party be
came the ruling power.
Since Baron Pompeo Aloisl of
Italy pointed out to the League of
Nations couficil at Geneva the in
consistency of applying sanctions
to Italy in the Ethiopian incident
and not applying them to Japan in
the North China and indeed the
Manchurian incidents, many a par
allel has been drawn between the
two. There are technical differences
that destroy the parallel, however.
Nippon Is Subtle.
For one thing Japan has been a
much more subtle aggressor against
China than Italy has against Ethi
opia. Japan has effected the sub
mission of Chinese army leaders be
fore invading, not after.
Another difference is that China
has not appealed to the league yet,
whereas Haile Selassie’s appeals
were loud, long and unmistakable.
Meanwhile the conquest of the
Japanese empire becomes clearer
and clearer. Pescadores and For
mosa In 1895; Port Arthur in 1904;
Karafuto in 1905; Corea in 1910;
mandates over the Pacific islands
north of the equator in 1920; the
puppet state of Manchukuo In 1932;
Jehol added to It in 1933.—Are the
next to be the puppet states of
Hopei, Chaliar, Suiynan, Shansi and
Shantung?
© Western Newspaper Union,