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overlook the stiffness of movement of the marionettes they manipulate, we may say that the performance is almost life-like. In the study which follows of the progress of Manchukuo since its inception, I propose, wherever possible, to ignore the power behind the throne and to treat it as though it were, in fact, a separate, independent State and not a mere make-believe.
III.- -EXTERNAL DEFENCE.
21. Manchukuo faces Soviet Russia along the whole of her northern and eastern frontier. Relations are anything but cordial, and the serious fighting that occurred at Changkufeng in July and August 1938 demonstrated the danger of a conflict breaking out one day. On the north-west Outer Mongolia, which is under Soviet influence, is another source of anxiety. The security of her middle and south-western border depends mainly on the vitality of the newly-formed Mengchiang Administration which is under Japanese influence.
22. A Japanese diplomat, who had returned from a trip along the Amur, remarked to me that the sight of the Soviet fortifications all along the left bank gave him an uneasy feeling. Most of the peaceful inhabitants had been with- drawn and replaced by guards. The formerly thriving town of Blagoveschensk opposite Heiho, the terminus of the line running north from Harbin, had been deliberately stripped of merchants and was a city of the dead. To which the comment may be made that the sight of fortifications on the right bank probably gives the Russians an uneasy feeling. It is idle now to apportion blame. A state of nervous tension runs along the whole northerly frontier and constitutes the only apparent threat to the stability of Manchukuo. In itself it scarcely presents any danger; the frontier is well guarded. So long as Japan herself is not enfeebled by the restless ambition of her military, Manchukuo may be regarded as reasonably secure.
23.
An instance of the strained relations between the two countries occurred in November 1938, when, in retaliation for similar measures taken against Manchukuo consuls at Blagoveschensk and Chita, the Soviet Consulate-General at Harbin was isolated for a short period from the outside world, all supplies were prohibited and light and water were cut.
24.
IV. INTERNAL DEFENCE.
Since the old régime had been swept off the board, the first task of the new was to restore the reign of law and order. This was simple enough in the middle and west of the country, which, for the most part, is flat or rolling country, but it has proved harder in the eastern half where the terrain is hilly and communications are difficult. Remote portions of this area have always been the happy hunting ground of the bandits who descended from their mountain fastnesses to levy toll both on the farmer and on the traveller.
25. Bandit ranks were swollen by the soldiers of the old régime, and for incident." some years conditions were far worse than they had been before the Punitive expeditions seemed at the time to have little effect, since the moment the troops retired the bandits reappeared and resumed their raids. The size of the bands, their guerilla tactics and the necessity under which the Government found itself of engaging in large-scale military engagements showed that they were insurgents and not brigands pure and simple.
26. They continue to operate in remote districts and are still a thorn in the flesh of the Government, but the scope of their activities has been confined. The eastern half of the country is being gradually opened up as new railways and roads are built and the gathering of scattered communities into fortified villages, unpopular though it may be with the peasant who cannot live right on his little plot of land, facilitates the problem of his defence. It appears, therefore, that the bandit menace is rapidly abating, though whether it can ever be entirely eradicated is open to doubt.
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