Their existence constitutes an embarrassment to America, because in a
quarrel with Japan the United States would unavoidably find themselves
in unwilling alliance with Russia. The conduct of Japan towards Russia
has been quite as bad as that of any other Power. At the time of the
Czecho-Slovak revolt, the Allies jointly occupied Vladivostok, but after
a time all withdrew except the Japanese. All Siberia east of Lake
Baikal, including Vladivostok, now forms one State, the Far Eastern
Republic, with its capital at Chita. Against this Republic, which is
practically though not theoretically Bolshevik, the Japanese have
launched a whole series of miniature Kolchaks--Semenov, Horvath, Ungern,
etc. These have all been defeated, but the Japanese remain in military
occupation of Vladivostok and a great part of the Maritime Province,
though they continually affirm their earnest wish to retire.
In the early days of the Bolshevik regime the Russians lost Northern
Manchuria, which is now controlled by Japan. A board consisting partly
of Chinese and partly of reactionary Russians forms the directorate of
the Chinese Eastern Railway, which runs through Manchuria and connects
with the Siberian Railway. There is not through communication by rail
between Peking and Europe as in the days before 1914. This is an extreme
annoyance to European business men in the Far East, since it means that
letters or journeys from Peking to London take five or six weeks instead
of a fortnight.
Pages:
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177