Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6

ChineseClaimsSetogawa Abuses
History JustifyJapan’s
to Act
Inasmuch as membership Nations connotes volun-
in the League of
surrender, obligation
tary Japan is under to obey the mandates of that
international organization,
declares Dalton T. Chen, local Chinese wri-

in the Tribune of December 27.

Mr. Chen claims that Mr. Seto-

gawa has not been very careful
with his history in trying to just-
Manchuria,
ify Japan's acts in and,
following article,
in the sets out to
correcthim:
The writerof this article has no
desire to engage in argumentover
Manchurian question with
the any
Japaneseresidentin the Philip-
pines, knowing too well the futil-
attempt
ity of any to havethe Si-
no- Japaneserow settled in this
country.
However, to clarifycertain facts
misrepresenta-
and to correctthe
history, writer feels
tion of
constrained
the
to say a few wordsin
article of
answer to an Mr. Benichi
Setogawa published in the Tribune
December
of last 27.
In an effortto defendJapan’s
positionin Manchuria. Setogawa
Mr.
points out three things:(1)
Nations,
that the League of being
supernational organization,
no but

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (2)

operating
one on mutual agreement
amongthe nations,has no power
to give orders to, or make demands
on Japan: (2) that what happen-
Manchuria
ed to will not happen
to Davao, the latter beingnot so
politically important
to Japan as
the former is, and (3) “his little
Manchuria,”
historyof as the edi-
Tribune
tor of the put it.
Now, let us examine briefly these
points one by one.
Having
no armyor navyat its
disposal, Nations
the League of
powerful militant
may not be as as
Japan. But when Japan solemnly
subscribed covenant,
to the league
she voluntarilysurrenderedherself
jurisdiction
to the of the League in
so far as matters falling within
covenant
the scopeof the are con-
cerned.
intention
If Japanhad no to ob
covenant,
serve the league she
should not have joined the League.
illustration.
Take a simple A busi
nessman joined a
who has not com
association
mercial as the Philip
Commerce
pinesChamber of
obligation
is un
der no to obey the laws organization.
and rules of that But
becomes member of
once he a the
Chamber,he is bound to observe
regulations.
those He must comply
with all the orders,instructions,
demands,request,majoritydeci-

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (3)

sions, or whatever
you may call
directors,
them,of the boardof the
governing body of the chamber.
Failing stands critic-
to do so, he
ised as a “bad member” and must
suffer whatever consequencesmay
follow.
subscribing
In to the league
covenant,
Japan, of her own voli-
tion, agreed to preserveworld peace
and not
to attempt aggression upon
another nation by force. She fur-
ther agreed to submit any contro-
versywhichshe mighthave with
any other nation to the league
investigation
councilfor and ar-
bitration,
and to abideby the final
decision of that body.
But what has Japandone dur-
ing the past months? By occupy-
Manchuria, violated every
ing she
article of the league covenant. She
disturbed international peace by
attemptingaggression upon China
by force. She did not submit the
controversy
to the League for ar-
bitration.
When the League tried
intervene request
to at the of Chi-
accordance
na and in with the pro-
visions of the covenant which Ja-
pan herself had sworn to defend,
the Japanese government simply
proposition.
scornedat the When
council unanimous
the league in a
decision — unanimous becauseonly

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (4)

vote —
dissenting
Japan cast a ask-
Japanesetroops evacuate
ed the to
Manchuria,
Japan replied by send-
ing over more troops and occupy-
ing more territory. Evidently, Ja-
pan doesnot wantto obeythe
League; instead, she wants the
League to obey her! Wilfully, she
“scrap of paper” of
madea the
league covenant. And Mr. Setoga-
wa says Japan “knows what it is
doing!”
The writer agrees with Mr. Se-
togawa that for the time being Da-
important
vao is not so to Japan
Manchuria
as is. But Davao, with
beautiful
its port,its ideal climate
easily-cultivated
and its rich, hemp
plantations,certainly
and coconut
attractions Japanese,
offers to the
or else therewouldnot be so many
Japanesesubjectsthere.And Min-
danao, with an area of 36.906
squaremiles,mostlyfertile agri-
uncultivated
cultural
land is as yet
is big and good enough to accom-
modate at least three or four mil-
ever-increasing
lions of Japan's
surplus population.
momentour Japanese
If for a
friend forgetsthe nationalambi-
tionof his own people, may we re-
following passage
mind him of the
taken from the secret memorial
submitted
in 1927 to His Majesty,
Japanese Emperor,
the by that in

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (5)

imitable Japanese soldier-states-

man, the late General Tanaka?

“In order to conquerChina,we
must first conquerManchuria and
Mongolia. conquer the
In order to
world, we must first conquer Chi-
conquering
na. If we succeed in
China, the rest of the Asiaticcoun-

countries
tries and the South Sea
surrender
will fear us and to us.
Then the world will realize that
Eastern Asia is our and will not
violate rights.”
will not dare to our
When General Tanaka spoke of
countries,”
“the South Sea he must
have had in mind not only the
Settlements
Strait but also this
“Pearl of the Orient.
” In fact, if
Japan should make any attempt to
subjugate “theSouth Sea coun-
tries,” the Philippines
would be
the firstto receive the blow,being
the nearestand, as explained
attractive.
above, also the most
Japan, with her territory entirely
temperate
in the zone, badly needs
tropicalproductsto make herself a
self-sufficient first-classpower.

These she cannot get from Africa,

that continent having been parti-
controlled
tioned and now being by
the Europeannations. She would
not try to get them from far-off
South America if she could help
it. She would hesitate to risk war

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (6)

with England and other European

powers by invading Borneo or Ja-
dealing with an
va. But in inde-
pendent Philippines,Japan can
easily have her own way, she being
strongest military
the power in the
disregard
East and ever ready to
international
treatiesand agree-
ments whenever it suits her con-
venience
to do so.
Of course, Japan professes she
territorialambition
has no in the
Philippines.She professed the
same thing to the Koreans before
she annexed Korea. She said the
same thing to China. Even now,
she is saying that same thingin
Manchuria.
regard to But it is not
what one says but what one does
that counts.
Whether Japan will conquer the
Philippines
or not only time can
tell.But taking the sad exper-
iences of Korea and China as a
considering
warning and the fact
faithfully carrying
that Japan is
out the programlaid down by the
late GeneralTanaka, the Seiyukai
partynow in powerbeingthe same
party headed by the late premier,
Filipinos
the should ever be on
their guard lest their beloved Min-
danaosuffer the same fate as that
Manchuria
of Korea or
Philippines.
So much for the

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (7)

Manchuria.
In giving “his little his-
Manchuria,” Setogawa
tory of Mr.
confusedmany things. First, he would
believed
have us that the causeof
Sino-Japanese 1894-1895
the war of
aggressive,
was that China, then
“extended
had her hands over to
Japan” (meaning that the Chinese
had invaded into the islandem-
pire), thereby stirring Japanese
national sentiment and resulting
conflict. Nothing
in open is fur-
ther from the truth. The Sino-
Japanese result of
war was the an
unprovoked Japanese invasion into
Korea then a Chineseterritory.
conclusion
At the of the war, Ja-
pan demandedthat Korea be made
idependent
an state, but in 1905
protectorate
Japan set a over that
country,and in 1910 she annexed
outright, confirming
it thus in a
strange manner Setogawa’s claim
that Japan was fightingher wars
to “inspire the independence
move-
ment among the Orientalna-
tions!”
Mr. Setogawaagain abusedhis-
tory when he stated that,afterthe
Sino-Japanese
war, China, seeking
assistance
from the west to sup-
press the rising power of her east-
ern neighbor, “offered Manchuria
to Russia,Tsingtaoto Germany
and privleges
to France.” The fact

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (8)

is that, after the war. the Euro

pean nations, enviousof Japan's
successin China (Japan having
snatched Formosa and numerous
advantages Manchuria and
in Ko-
apprehensive
rea), and of their
position started
own in the East, a
scramblefor concessions
and pri-
down-trodden
vileges in the Em-
pire. Unable to offer any resis-

tance, China had to give whatever

was demandedof The result

her.
was that Russia obtaineda lease
of Port Arthur in south Manchu-
ria; Germany,KiaochowBay
(Tsingtao);Great Britain, Weiha-
iwei; and France,Kwangchow Wan.
So, China’s misfortunes
can be
traced directly to Japan’s uncall-
aggression
ed-for in 1894.
In 1914, Japan forced Germany
out of Kiaochowin Shungtung
provinceand would have kept
Shangtung permanently for her-
China’s
self had it not been for
persistant refusal to yield and the
consequent pressure brought upon
practically
Japan by all the other
Disarmament
powersat the Con-
ference held 1921-1922
in at Wash-
ington.Shangtung was restoredto
China, but only after China was
forced to cede to Japanthe rich
coal-mines at Tsechuan, Fangtse
Chinglinchen,
and and also to pay

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (9)

exhorbitant
Japan the price of 53,-
406.141 gold marks for the Tsing-
tao-Tsinanfu
railway,built not by
Japanese
but the Germans.The
by
restoration
facts concerning the of
Tsingtao and Shangtung being
such, we can not see how Mr. Se-
togawa claim that “the Japanese
sacrificed Tsingtaofor
blood over
Chinese”
the sake of the and that
Tsingtao was returned to China
“without compensation.”
Mr. Setogawa seems to believe
that Manchuria should have been
conceded
to Japan after the Rus-
so-Japanese
war. But he makes
the biggest blunder concerning his-
assumes
torywhenhe thatat the
time of the war, Manchuria
“was
semi-permanently
placed in the
hands of the Czar.”
Mr. Setogawa acknowledges that
Japan acquiredher presentposition
succeeding Russia’s
Manchuria
in by
rights through the treaty of Port-
smouth signed after the Russo-Ja-
panesewar.
If this treatyis to be
observed,
as it should be, then Ja-
pan has no more rightsin Man-
churia than Russia had. Under
clause 2 article
of 111 of the trea-
Portsmouth,
ty of Russia had this
much to say: “The Imperial Gov-

ernment of Russia declare that

Manchuria
they have not in any

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (10)

territorial advantages or preferen-

exclusive concessions
tial or in im-
pairmentof Chinesesovereignty or
inconsistent principle of
with the
opportunity.”
equal How could
Manchuria have been “placed se-
mi-permanently
in the hands of
the Czar” when Russia had “no
territorial advantages or preferen-
concessions”
tial in that country?
It may be stated here that,in
fightingagainsteach other in
Manchuria without China’s con-
sent, both Russia and Japan had
violatedthe neutrality and sover-
eignty of China and made the in-
nocent Chinese to suffer. For da-
mages done to Chineseproperty
during the war, the two belligerent
nationsshouldbe held jointlyre-
sponsible. But instead of indemn-
ifying China, Japan snatched away
railways, mines and leased territor-

ies. Now she advances a step fur-

claiming
ther by the whole Man-
churia!
If Mr. Setogawa cannotsee the
injustice
done to China in this
manner,just imaginetwo strong
fellows fightingin a weak fellow’s
possession
home over the of a pro-
belonging
perty not to any of the
fighters
but to the one in whose
home the fight takes place. After
smashing
all the windows and des-
furniture,
troyingmany pieces of

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910

Tribune (Philippines : 1932 - 1945), Sunday 3 January 1932, page 6 (11)

victor of battle, instead of

the the
apologizing
to the owner for dis-
turbing the sanctity
of his home or
indemnities
paying him for the da-
magesdone,comesout to claimnot
only the property under dispute

but also the entirehouse. To en-

force the false claim, he actually
attemptsto eject the owner from
the placewherethe poor man and
forefathers
his have been making
their homefor the last three or four
hundredyears. Can Mr. Setogawa
imagineanything more revolting
to
propriety?
his sense of Yet that
exactly
is what Japanis doingin
Manchuria!

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article249599910