Imperial Deeds

Belligerent Tokyo had four Chinese cities and two diplomatic scuffles on her fighting list last week, not to mention 600 rioting Japanese students, 250 of whom were promptly arrested in Tokyo, jailed and squelched when they tried to demonstrate for Peace.

The Cities:

Harbin, the so-called "Russian Capital" of the so-called "Russian Sphere of Influence in North Manchuria" had been captured by General Jiro Tamon (TIME, Feb. 15) and that cocky little Japanese announced last week that in doing so he had caused 1,800 Chinese deaths.

The 25,000 Russians (nearly all anti-Bolshevik) in Harbin hoped Japan would push farther north and pick a real quarrel with Soviet Russia. Last week Harbin was exciting because Tokyo had heard from London which had it from Riga that in Moscow last week highest officials of the Communist Party stood around a table upon which Josef Stalin banged his fist, explaining his "Harbin Policy": Peace. Tokyo was titillated by the possibility that this "inside dope" might be wrong, that Russia might fight.

Mukden. As unobtrusive as a prestidigitator sneaking a rabbit into his hat was Japanese General Shigeru Honjo last week in Mukden, the capital of Manchuria. But Tokyo papers were quietly confident that "The Independent Government of Manchuria" would soon be proclaimed, thus severing 30.000,000 people who are 99% Chinese from China.

General Ma, the famed Chinese defender of Tsitsihar, who fled so swiftly after stating "I will die so long as one Chinese stands by my side" (TiME, Nov. 30), placed himself under Japan's orders last week. But should the new "Independent Government" be Republican or Imperial?

Chances were not too bright last week for Mr. Henry Pu Yi, former Emperor of China, who aspires to be Emperor of Manchuria. But Tokyo conceded that this weak young man with extremely weak eyes still has a chance to be chosen as Japan's Imperial Puppet. Furthermore, his proud Manchu mother, the daughter-in-law of his famed & terrible grandmother, the last real Empress Dowager, died last week.

To Democratic white men a Manchurian Democracy might seem best, but Japanese love their Emperor, prefer Imperial deeds.

Tientsin, the third largest Chinese port, was suddenly occupied last week (to Tokyo's great satisfaction) by a Japanese force which took away all the local Chinese soldiers' and policemen's arms and forced the Mayor of Tientsin at bayonet's point to sign a paper.

The Japanese then returned to the Chinese their arms, marched off with the paper. The paper pledged Tientsin Chinese to attempt no armed aggression against Tientsin Japanese.

Tokyo got the point. The point was to terrify Tientsin. Last week Tientsin was the only large Chinese city so completely terrorized that its Chinese merchants bought Japanese goods in large quantities.

Shanghai was to Tokyo last week only another Tientsin, on a much grander and more glorious scale (see p. 21). Japan has many objectives, but a very big one is to scare the biggest Chinese city, Shanghai, into dropping the boycott of Japanese goods now general throughout China, and into buying Japanese goods. The big businessmen of Tokyo, Osaka and Kobe were under the strange but powerful impression last week that by employing Might in its crudest form the Japanese Empire can sell to China. After all, what was "The Opium War?" Chinese say it was a successful exhibition of Might by the British Empire to sell British opium to Chinese. What Japan wants to sell is Japanese cotton piece goods, Manchurian soya beans and such. Tokyo knew last week that Japan produces no opium, that the British Empire (India) still exports most to opium smoking countries, that Chinese still smoke most. Diplomatic Fronts. Toward the League of Nations and the Great Powers last week, Japan's attitude was that the diplomatic struggle on both fronts was one of Hypocrisy v. Hypocrisy. China was not even able to get the League Council to get the League Assembly to debate Japan last week. At Geneva all correspondents reported that Sir John Simon, British Foreign Secretary, wasted hours and hours, forcing other members of the Council to listen to his highly abstruse arguments as to whether the Council could "legally" call the assembly, as China asked. Japan's other diplomatic front: since the Great Powers have rejected Japan's plan to neutralize the five chief Chinese cities and virtually divide China into "spheres of influence" each dominated by a Great Power last week Tokyo presented in effect an ultimatum to the World.

Terms: The Great Powers were informed that if they persist in their rejection of Japan's offer to share China then, this week, Japan will launch a new and greater offensive at Shanghai, pushing on into China alone if she can.

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