Japan and China * The general situation created by Japan's
refusal to comply with the League of Nations Council's appeal for the withdrawal of her troops from the territory she has occupied in Manchuria is discussed on another page. Up to the present the Council has done what was possible to discharge its first. duty of safeguarding the peace of, nations, and the unanimity which its members, other than the Japanese, have maintained throughout is encouraging. Still more so, of course, is the steady sup- port the American Government has given at every stage to the. League's endeavours. It is right for the Council, while developing its own technique, to take full account of the circumstances of each particular case. In the present case patient negotiation was possible. In others immediate action may be essential, as it may be indeed before the present trouble is finished with, and it is of the first importance that the Council should not be thought incapable of it. It may be noted that since the Council rose China has further strengthened her position tactically at Geneva by offering to submit to arbitration the various treaty points which Japan insists on clearing up. The Japanese still demand the exclusion of third parties from all such negotiations. China, in view of past history, cannot be blamed for resisting that idea. * * * *
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