Page:The Truth about China and Japan - Weale - 1919.djvu/160

 East,—these are the foreign policies of Japan unmasked.

In addition to the treaty we have quoted, Japan wrote with China in 1905 a long supplementary agreement—using this method because she instinctively follows tortuous ways, believing that this gives her an opportunity to defend herself against accusations of expropriation,—and against actions which would be beneath the dignity of the Imperial House, but which her commercial appetite forces her to take.

In the supplementary treaty, Japan solemnly declared (Article II) that "in view of the earnest desire expressed by the Imperial Chinese Government to have the Japanese and Russian troops and railway guards in Manchuria withdrawn as soon as possible, and in order to meet this desire, the Imperial Japanese Government, in the event of Russia agreeing to the withdrawal of her railway guards, or in case other proper measures are agreed to between China and Russia, consent to take similar steps accordingly". What has been the result of this undertaking? Japan has made secret agreement after secret agreement with Tsarist Russia—the last one in 1916 a few months before the Russian Revolution—to se-