The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 8, 1924, Page 8

Dn) WI ee ee oe es Intervention in China. - China during the last few weeks has been the center of attention of the contending forces of the world. The Communist proletariat of WBu- rope and America is beginning to un- derstand the significance of the ris- ings of the huge population of China, India and the other colonial and semi- colonial countries. The imperialist powers, who in the present historical phase are ruling thru the liberal bour- geoisie and the opportunist leaders of the working’ class, are being compel- led by events, and in spite of, their program and declarations, to reveal their acquisitive ambitions in the col- onial countries. The recent stormy developments in China opens: up a page in that phase of imperialism in which the latter, clad in the toga of Christian-democratic-pacifism, is oblig- ed in this garb to compel the toiling masses of the:East by blood and iron to submit to the power of finance capital. Almost simultaneously with the London conference of the imperialists of Europe and America, the declared aim of which was to secure the long promised “pacification” of Europe, be- gan the attack of these same imperial- ists in the Far East. What are the conditions compelling the imperialists to develop a defensive movement against the colonial and semi-colonial countries at the present moment, and especially against China? Why has a whole series of events occurred in the autumn of this year, beginning in Sudan, Morocco, Persia and Afghan- istan and ending with the imperialist actions in the large ports of Southern, Central and Northern China, actions which are characteristic of the ag- gressive instincts of the imperialists? There are three important reasons in our opinion, _ First, the endeavor of a section of tha victorious countries—England and America—since the world war to unit- ed action not only against the im- perialist powers that were defeated in the war, but also against some of their former “allies.” While the Lon- don conference in reality signifies the growth of Anglo-American influence in Burope at the expense of French influence, the present struggle of the Chinese imperialists in the Far Bast is being fought in order to destroy the influence of another “ally” of England and América—Japan. The struggle has not yet ended with the definite victory of one group of imperialists and the definite destruc- tion of the influence of the other, Such results at any rate are not to be obtained by “peace” conferences. But these conferences, by destroying the former balance of forces only render the conflicts between the imperialists more acute and bring the period of armed conflicts even nearer. We have the example of the Washington “peace” conference, held at the be- ginning of 1922, which, by destroying the Anglo-Japanese treaty, created still more acute relations between the chief protagonists in the Pacific— America and Japan. One of the first results of the Washington conference was the armed struggle in Northern China between the Japanese group of militarists and the American group. , The second reason for the attacks and intrigues of the imperialists in the Hastern countries is the growth of the movement for emancipation, which, to no small extent, increasey the contradictions between the im- perialists. The third reason is the steadily growing popularity ef the U. 8. S. R. among the masses thruout the Nast. In the present article we shall deal with ise first reason only. The Imperialist Struggle for China Since the World War. It was the small island Japan which at the conclusion of the world war held the hegemony in China. Itself directly very little concerned in the struggle on the European con- tinent, young full-blooded Japanese capitalism turned its ambitions to- wards China, which possessed the coal and iron, these essential raw material of production which Japan so much lacked. But it was not these riches alone which attracted Japan to China. The blooming of Japanese capitalism after the Chinese-Japanese war of 1894 when Japan received Formosa and established its influence in Korea, increased the appetites of the Japan- ese bureaucracy and Japanese mon- opoly-capitalism which were protected by the ruling cliques of large land- owners and militarists. This led to the war between czarist Russia and Japan in 1905 during which, as we know, England helped Japan. The Russo-Japanese War, in spite of the intervention of America in the person of Roosevelt on the side of Russia, nevertkaless resulted in Japan’s secur- ing tremendous davantages in the Pacific Ocean. Japan recetrved the Liau-Tung Peninsula which since 1898 had been leased by China to czarist Russia for a period of 25 years. As a result, there passed into Japanese hands, Port Arthur and Dairen, two | fluence in China with its By G. Voitinsk important ports in the Chili Straits, reinforced its descents by any army of making direct contact with the rich from 70 to 80 thousand men and sent province of Shantung and the chief | divisions to the Chinese astern Rail- province of Northern China, of Chili possible. A brief glance at a map of Asia will help us to understand the tremendous possibilities which were opened up for Japan as a result of the Russo-Japanese War. Japan ob- tained the possibility of building a railway line from Mukden, the chief towa in Manchuria, to Port Arthur, thus exporting agricultural produce from Manchuria thru the port of Dai- ren. It also built the line from @Muk- den to Seoul, connecting the centre of Korea, thus uniting its sphere of in- colony, Korea, Holding these “advantages” in China before the world war, Japan took advantage of the slackening of the imperialist grip in China. She as- sociated herself with the British group partly because of her treaty with Britain (1902) and partly be- cause she saw the possibilities of en- riching herself at the expense of Ger- many. She seized the province of PRODUCTS OF IMPERIALISM. Man-Tung with the excellent port of Tsin-Tao and the railway connecting Tsin-Tao with Tsinan-Fu. : This sphere of influence however, did not satisfy Japan. Her ambitions were stimulated by the enfeeblement of the opposition of China and the protracted nature of the world war, In 1915, as the result of threats, bribery, and provocation, she succeeded in concluding a secret treaty with the Chinese president, Yuan-Shih-Kai, the effect of which would be to transform China into a semi-colony of Japan. This treaty, which is known as the 21 demands, contains points according to which the Chinese government un- dertakes to employ Japanese military instructors, Japanese police chiefs, and Japanese advisers to the ministry for foreign affairs, not to speak of the privileges granted to Japanese banks a the coal, textile, and other indus- les. After our October reyolution, Japan lost all sense of propértion and seri- ously began to think of the seizure not only of China and Manchuria, but also of Mongolia and our Siberia as far as the Urals. Under the pretext of protecting the counter-revolutionary Czecho-Slovak p+ -eniemeirtrtireonatengo ny -Brt~-Beswnn iberia overthrowing the Soviet pow- er in their path, Japan organised de- scents upon Vladivostok, where in conjunction with the Czechs it over. threw the Soviet government in 1918, way at Harbin and to other stations along the railway. At the same time she sent forces into the Amur, Trans- Baikal (Chita), and Irkutsk, and a military mission to Kolchak in Omsk. Japan possessed considerable in- fluence over thé Central government in Peking and thru General Hsu, fe- phew of the then president of China, Hsu-Shih-Chang, conducted her policy in Mongolia she later (1920-21) sup- ported the bands of Baron Ungern in their invasions into the region of Troitsko-Savsk and the Province of Irkutsk. Such was the position of Japan and such were her plans at the time of the Versailles “peace” conference. Of coursé, the robber policy pursued by Japan, towards our government and towards China did not alarm the other imperialist powers very much, parti- cularly since as far as we were con- ‘cerned, the Japanese action was part of the general imperialist plan. But neither America nor England, nor the other “allies” could reconcile them- selves to the fact that Japan had taken advantage of the world war in order to secure exclusive influence in China. From that moment began the im- perial struggle for China, or rather, for the destruction of Japanese influ- ence. The chief antagonist of Japan in China is the United States of Amert- ca. This is easily understood when it is remembered that America neither before nor since the war possessed territorial spheres of influence in China. America regarded China chiefly as a& market for her products; it began to value China as a sphere of invest- ment for her capital only since the world war, when the accumulation of milliards began to suffocate American industry. trade with China, no less important than the direct investment of capital in China, were America’s strategic