Hitherto every one has always believed that the Yang
tsze Valley was par excellence the British sphere in China; and
every one has always thought that that belief was enough. It is
true that political students, going carefully over all published
documents, have ended their search by declaring that the matter
certainly required further elucidation. To be precise, this so-
called British sphere is not an enclave at all in the proper
sense; indeed it can only seem one to those who still believe that
it is still possible to pre-empt provinces by ministerial
declarations. The Japanese have been the first to dare to say that
the preconceived general belief was stupid. They know, of course,
that it was a British force which invaded the Yangtsze Valley
seventy-five years ago, and forced the signature of the Treaty of
Nanking which first opened China to the world's trade; but they
are by no means impressed with the rights which that action has
been held to confer, since the mineral resources of this region
are priceless in their eyes and must somehow be won.
The study of twenty years of history proves this assumption to be
correct. Ever since 1895, Japan has been driving wedges into the
Yangtsze Valley of a peculiar kind to form the foundations for her
sweeping claims of 1915. Thus after the war with China in 1894-95,
she opened by her Treaty of Peace four ports in the Yangtsze
Valley region, Soochow, Hangchow, Chungking and Shasi; that is, at
the two extreme ends of the valley she established politico-
commercial points d'appui from which to direct her campaign.
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