1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Manchuria

MANCHURIA (see ). By the terms of the Treaty of Portsmouth, which concluded the Russo-Japanese War (Sept. 5 1905), both the signatory Powers agreed to evacuate Manchuria and to restore China's unfettered administration throughout its three provinces, with the exception of the Liaotung peninsula, the lease of which was transferred, with China's subsequent consent, to Japan. Russia also ceded to Japan the southern section of the Manchurian railway, from Dalny to Changchun (514 m.), retaining the section from Changchun northwards to Harbin. The sovereignty of China and the &ldquo;open door&rdquo; were expressly recognized by this treaty.

With a view to the development of commerce and industry, which Russia and Japan had pledged themselves not to obstruct, the Chinese Government proceeded in 1908 to enlist the support of British and American capital for the construction of railways in Manchuria. After prolonged negotiations, a preliminary contract was signed, in Oct. 1909, for the construction of a trunk line from Chinchou to Aigun; but, in the meanwhile, Russia and Japan had come to a definite understanding for the protection and advancement of their respective &ldquo;special interests&rdquo; in northern and southern Manchuria. The American State Department's proposals for the &ldquo;neutralization&rdquo; of the Manchurian railways (Nov. 1909) brought Russia and Japan more closely together, and on July 4 1910 an agreement was concluded between them, which in its operation materially infringed China's sovereign rights in Manchuria and Mongolia, and violated the principle of the &ldquo;open door.&rdquo; A joint protest against the conclusion of the Chinchou-Aigun railway agreement was addressed to the Chinese Government by the Russian and Japanese ministers at Peking, and the project, like that of the British loan agreement for a line from Hsinmintun to Fakumen, was subsequently abandoned. Later in 1910 an agreement concluded by the &ldquo;Four Nations&rdquo; Consortium, to finance the development of Manchuria, was blocked by Russia and Japan until their participation therein had been conceded, under conditions which secured to them continuance of their privileged position.

As early as Dec. 1905, the claims advanced by the Japanese Government, in negotiating at Peking the treaty wherein China perforce concurred in the arrangements of the Portsmouth Treaty, had given evidence of an intention not only to insist upon the reversion of all the undefined rights, privileges and concessions formerly held by Russia in South Manchuria, but also to extend the limits of Japan's &ldquo;sphere of influence&rdquo; in that region. By this treaty, concluded with China in Dec. 1905, Japan obtained, inter alia, the right to build and finance a railway from Mukden to Antung on the Korean frontier, and to undertake the construction of lines from Hsinmintun to Mukden and from Changchun to Kirin. By the beginning of 1911, the &ldquo;peaceful penetration&rdquo; of Manchuria and Mongolia was proceeding steadily and under conditions generally similar to those which had characterized Russia's forward policy from 1898 to 1905.

The disorganization of the central Government in China and the collapse of Russia after 1917 served to increase the economic, financial and political ascendancy of Japan in Manchuria. As the result of a special mission sent by the Japanese Government to Washington in 1917, an exchange of Notes took place between Secretary Lansing and Viscount Ishii, in which the United States recognized that &ldquo;Japan has special interests in China, particularly in that part to which her possessions are contiguous.&rdquo; The precise significance of the term &ldquo;special interests&rdquo; was undefined. As the result, however, of the negotiations initiated by the United States in July 1918, for the establishment of a four-Power consortium to coöperate in Chinese finance, and of the subsequent pourparlers between the British and Japanese Governments on the same subject, the latter finally agreed (May 10 1920) to withdraw the claims, previously put forward by the Japanese bankers, to exclude from the scope of the Consortium &ldquo;all the rights and options held by Japan in the regions of Manchuria and Mongolia where Japan has special interests.&rdquo; The position adopted alike by the British, French and American Governments in regard to this question was based on the ground that Manchuria is an integral part of China, and on the desirability of eliminating all spheres of influence together with their special claims to industrial preference. The Japanese Government, in modifying its general claims and withdrawing its particular reservation of certain railways from the scope of the Consortium's operations, placed it on record that it did so because of the British Government's repeated assurance that the Consortium would not &ldquo;direct any activities affecting the security of the economic life and national defence of Japan, and that the Japanese Government might firmly rely upon the good faith of the Powers concerned to refuse to countenance any operations in- imical to such interests.&rdquo; The whole question came up for further inquiry at the Washington Conference at the close of 1921.

The economic progress achieved in Manchuria had been very rapid since 1912, and much of the expansion of its trade and industries must undoubtedly be ascribed to the enterprise shown by the Japanese in the development of mines, forestry and agriculture, and in the provision of improved transport, communications and currency.

Value of Manchurian Trade in Haikuan Taels.

After the revolution in China the administration of each of the three provinces of Manchuria was vested in the dual control of a Tuchun (military governor) and a Shengchang (civil governor) but since 1918 the two offices have been combined in one person in the provinces of Mukden and Amur. Later, towards the beginning of 1920, the Tuchun of Mukden, Chang Tso-lin, became the most prominent figure in Chinese politics and exercised almost dictatorial authority.

(J. O. P. B.)