Until the purchase price, borrowed from Japan, is repaid, the Japanese
retain a certain degree of control over the railway: a Japanese traffic
manager is to be appointed, and two accountants, one Chinese and the
other Japanese, under the control of a Chinese President.
It is clear that, on paper, this gives the Chinese everything five years
hence. Whether things will work out so depends upon whether, five years
hence, any Power is prepared to force Japan to keep her word. As both
Mr. Hughes and Sir Arthur Balfour strongly urged the Chinese to agree to
this compromise, it must be assumed that America and Great Britain have
some responsibility for seeing that it is properly carried out. In that
case, we may perhaps expect that in the end China will acquire complete
control of the Shantung railway.
On the whole, it must be said that China did better at Washington than
might have been expected. As regards the larger aspects of the new
international situation arising out of the Conference, I shall deal with
them in the next chapter. But in our present connection it is necessary
to consider certain Far Eastern questions _not_ discussed at Washington,
since the mere fact that they were not discussed gave them a new form.
The question of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia was not raised at
Washington. It may therefore be assumed that Japan's position there is
secure until such time as the Chinese, or the Russians, or both
together, are strong enough to challenge it.
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