Manchukuo and the Open Door Much the most serious development
in the Manchurian situation in the past week is the statement made by Mr. Ohashi, the Japanese official in charge of the Foreign Affairs in the new province of Manchukuo, to a New York Times correspotident`to the effect that the open door in Manchukuo will be open only to nationals of countries which have given 'diplomatic recognition to Manchukuo. This is an adroit move. Adroit at any rate superficially, though it is so gross a breach of the Nine Power Treaty that it cannot be supposed that the other signatories of the Treaty (to whom China has now addressed a formal protest) will quietly acquiesce in it. The argument is becoming involved. Both the League of Nations and the United States have announced formally that they will recognize no situation created in breach of treaties. That means that they cannot recognize Manchukuo, in view of the opinions they are known to hold on the means by which Manchukuo was brought into being. The Japanese, who pledged themselves to observe the open door in Manchuria when it was part of China, secure the severance of Manchuria from China and declare the door open only to countries who-recognize the severed province's independence. That is the situation with which the League Council. will in the next week or two have to deal. France, significantly, is veering against Japan.
