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the agreement of the Soviet Government, and its assurance of full assistance to be given to the mission as well as of freedom of action in the discharge of their duties. But, after arrival in Port Arthur, the Mission did not receive the promised assistance. Together with the obstructions from the so-called "local administration," this had made it impossible for the Mission to carry out their plans of inspection. The result of this trip again shows that Chinese administrative personnel cannot hope to perform their functions without the presence and protection of an adequate force of Chinese troops and police in Port Arthur and Dairen.

6. "In short, the failure of the Chinese Government thus far to take over Port Arthur and Dairen has been due to two factors (1) The repeated refusal of the Soviet Government to agree to the stationing of Chinese troops in Port Arthur and Dairen, and (2) The formation by the Chinese Communists of strongly armed forces in the vicinity of Port Arthur and Dairen to hinder the take-over of these regions by the Chinese Government, the existence of such armed forces having resulted from the first refusal in October, 1945, of the Soviet Government to agree to the landing of Chinese troops in Dairen.

"The Chinese Government is now constrained to call

the serious attention of the Soviet Government to its fundamental obligations under the two following provisions of an exchange of notes forming part of the Sino-Soviet treaty;-

(1) The Government of the U.S.S.R. agrees to render to China moral support and aid in military supplies and other material resources, such support and aid to be entirely given to the National Government as the central Government of China.

(2) The Government of the U.S.S.R. regards the three eastern provinces as part of China and reaffirms its respect of China's full sovereignty over the three eastern provinces and recognizes their territorial and administrative integrity. The Chinese Government sincerely hopes that the Soviet Government, mindful of its obligations mentioned above, will refrain from further employment of such unjustifiable interpretations of the Treaty as to undermine the sovereignty and administration of the Port Arthur area and Dairen. The Chinese Government, prompted by its earnest desire for friendly understanding and co-operation, will continue to seek an agreement with the Soviet Government. At the same time, the Chinese Government wishes hereby to declare that, since the right of China to dispatch troops and police to the Port Arthur area and Dairen is not restricted by treaty provisions, the Chinese Government is free at any time to decide on the exercise of this right."

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