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"The Soviet Government stated, however, that it could not agree to the dispatch of Chinese troops to the Port Arthur naval base because the defence of that naval base had been entru ted by the Treaty to the Soviet Government. As regards Dairen, the Soviet Government stated that while it would permit Chinese police to enter that city, provided their number and the places where they should be quartered were agreed upon between the two parties, it could not agree to the entry of Chinese troops into Dairen on the ground that the state of war against Japan had not yet been terminated, and that Dairen should therefore still be subject to the military supervision established in the Port Arthur naval base area.
"In the opinion of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Chinese Government is fully entitled to send troops to Port Arthur and maintain them there, for, according to the Sino-Soviet Treaty the entire Port Arthur naval base area is set aside for the "joint use" of the two countries. The Chinese Government therefore cannot accept the Soviet interpretation in this particular case.
"As to the stationing of Chinese troops in Dairen, while it is true that the Sino-Soviet Treaty subjects that city to the military supervision of the Port Arthur Naval base area, "in case of war against Japan," it is undeniable that Japan has for more than a year been under allied occupation following her unconditional surrender and that the "war against Japan" no longer in actuality exists. And even "in case of war against Japan" the Chinese Government is not precluded by any provision of the Sino-Soviet Treaty from sending its troops to Dairen.
"Moreover, the "military supervision" of the Port Arthur Naval base area or Dairen, even "in case of war against Japan", should be confined to the fulfillment of the requirement of joint prosecution of the war by China and the U.S.S.R. The sending of Chinese troops to Dairen to protect the administration and ensure its safety could not be considered in any case as detrimental to a joint prosecution of war against Japan.
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"For these reasons, the Chinese Government has repeatedly expressed in writing its inability to accept the views of the Soviet Government and requested that the Soviet Government adopt a friendly attitude of understanding and cooperation toward the decision of the Chinese Government to station troops in Dairen. Furthermore, in the present circumstances the regions of Port Arthur and Dairen are at any moment open to the menace and attacks of anti-Government armed forces in the vicinity. In order to ensure safety and freedom of its administrative personnel in the region, the Chinese Government, over and above its treaty right, has the actual neod of sending troops to Dairen. It is a matter of regret that this has not yet been assented to by the Soviet Government.
5. "While continuing to thresh out the matter with the Soviet Government, the Chinese Government recently dispatched an inspection mission under General Tung Yen-ping to Port Arthur and Dairen as a preparatory step toward the restoration of Chinese administrative authority in those regions. Before the departure of this group the Chinese Government had obtained
/the
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