Manchuria at the Crossroads

provinces of Liaoning, Kirin and Heilungkiang are called. Its area is 365,000 square miles, which is about equal to Germany and France combined. Its agricultural and mineral resources, including coal, iron, and gold, are also about equal to those of Germany and France together. It is called China's granary, and strategically it is known as China's helmet. Its population is about 30,000,000, of which over 95 per cent are Chinese. Manchuria was absorbed by China in the Tang dynasty, beginning about 620 A.D., and is an integral part of the nation. In fact, Manchuria is more Chinese than such provinces as Kiangsu, Chekiang, Fukien, and Kwangtung, at least from the language point of view, because all Manchurians speak good national Mandarin, while most people of the coastal provinces speak dialects. Largely on account of its potential wealth and strategic position, Manchuria's importance in world politics has increased ever since the SinoJapanese War of 1895. Generally speaking, Manchuria is divided into two sections, with Russia's influence in the north and Japan's influence in the south like a shading drawn over a background of the general influence of China. For several decades these three northeastern provinces have been crisscrossed by the interplay of political and economic forces among these three neighbors. Manchuria is somewhat like a football field, with China, Japan, and Russia each furnishing a team. These three teams take turns to sit on the grandstand or to enter the contest as they wish. As happens in small towns, those on the grandstand sometimes also join the c n est, siding with one team or the other. Russia's interest at present is l rgely centered in the Chinese Eastern Railway, which is owned and managed on a fifty-fifty basis with China. As the Soviets are on the grandstand at the moment, we shall more fully examine the Chinese and Japanese teams which are now in the arena

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