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 of Chang Tso-hsiang, established a new Kirin Provincial Government at Harbin. After General Chang Ching-hui had been appointed, on January 1st, 1932, Governor of Heilungkiang, he declared in that capacity the independence of the Province on January 7th. On January 29th, General Ting Chao took possession of the office of the Chief Administrator and placed General Chang under restraint in his own house. The latter regained his liberty when the Japanese forces came north and occupied Harbin on February 5th, after defeating General Ting Chao. From that time onwards, the Japanese influence made itself increasingly felt in the Special District.

In Heilungkiang Province, a more complicated situation had arisen owing to the conflict between General Chang Hai-peng and General Ma Chan-shan, which was described in the last chapter. After the occupation of Tsitsihar by the Japanese on November 19th, a Self-Government Association of the usual type was established, and this Association, which was said to represent the will of the people, invited General Chang Ching-hui, of the Special District, to act concurrently as Governor of Heilungkiang. As the situation around Harbin was still unsettled, and no definite agreement with General Ma had been reached, this invitation was not accepted until early in January 1932. Even then General Ma's attitude was ambiguous for some time. He co-operated with General Ting Chao until the latter's defeat in February, and then came to terms with the Japanese, accepting the Governorship of Heilungkiang out of General Chang's hands, and subsequently co-operated with the other Governors in the establishment of the new State. A Self-Government Guiding Committee was established at Tsitsihar on January 25th, and the same form of Provincial Government as in the other Provinces was gradually established.

The Province of Jehol has hitherto kept aloof from the political changes which have taken place in Manchuria. Jehol is part of Inner Mongolia. Over 3,000,000 Chinese settlers now live in the Province and they are gradually pushing out to the north the nomadic Mongols, who still live under their traditional tribal or Banner system. These Mongols, who are said to number about one million, have maintained some relations with the Mongol Banners settled in the west of Fengtien Province. The Mongols in Fengtien and Jehol have formed "Leagues" the most influential of which is the Cherim League. The Cherim League joined the Independence movement, as did also the Mongols in the Barga District, or Hulunbuir, in the west of Heilungkiang, who have often attempted to free themselves from Chinese rule. The Mongols do not easily assimilate with the Chinese. They are a proud race, and every Mongol remembers the exploits of Genghis Khan and the conquest of China by Mongol warriers. They resent Chinese over-lordship and they resent particularly the immigration of Chinese settlers, by which they are being gradually extruded from their territory. The Leagues of Chaota and Chosatu in Jehol are keeping in touch with the Banners in Fengtien, which are now ruled by committees. General Tang Ju-lin, the Governor of the Province, is reported to have assumed full responsibility for his Province on September 29th, and to have kept in touch with his colleagues in Manchuria. At the inauguration of "Manchukuo" on March 9th, Jehol was included in the new State. In fact, however, no decisive step was taken by the Government of the Province. The latest events in this Province were referred to at the end of chapter IV.

The local self-governing administrations thus established in all the Provinces were subsequently combined into a separate and independent "State". To understand the ease with which this was accomplished and the amount of evidence which it has been possible to bring forward of Chinese support for it when it was accomplished, it is necessary to consider the peculiar feature of Chinese organised life which in some circumstances is a strength and in others a weakness. As has been already stated in Chapter I, the community obligations recognised by the Chinese are rather