Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 5.djvu/74

 the despatch of a joint commission of investigation. That was an important stage in the dispute. It rested then with China to avert all danger of war by joining hands with Japan for the regeneration of a nation in whose prosperity and independence the two empires were equally interested. But she refused everything. Ready at all times to interfere by force of arms between the Korean people and the dominant political faction, she declined to interfere in any way for the promotion of reform. Ready at all times to crush the little kingdom into submission to a corrupt and demoralising administration, she refused to aid in rescuing it from the suffering and enervation entailed by the sway of such an oligarchy. She even expressed superciliously insulting surprise that Japan, while asserting Korea's independence, should suggest the idea of peremptorily reforming its administration. In short, for Chinese purposes the Peking statesmen openly declared Korea a "tributary" of the Middle Kingdom, and denied Japan's assertion of its independence; but for Japanese purposes they insisted that it must be held independent, and that Japan must abide strictly by her assertion of its independence. The Tōkyō Cabinet now declared their resolve not to withdraw the Japanese troops without "some understanding that would guarantee the future peace, order, and good government of Korea," and since China still declined to come to such an under-