Synopses & Reviews
Text extracted from opening pages of book: THE CAPITAL QUESTION OF CHINA BY LIONEL CURTIS MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1932 COPYRIGHT PRINTED IN GfiKAT BKITAIK BY R. & JR, CLARK, LIHnm, IDINIUKGM PREFACE SOME years ago groups were formed by the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House for continuous study of various countries and prob* Jems. One was to study the Balkans, another repara tions and international debts, a third frontier dis putes, a fourth Russia, a fifth the Far East, and so on, The idea underlying this plan was that each group should follow as closely as possible the latest developments in the question or country referred to them, and be ready to provide a paper for discussion by the Institute when called upon to do so* As an honorary secretary of the Institute ( a post I no longer hold) I had to keep in touch with these various groups in order to see how far each of them was severally fulfilling the task assigned to it. In course of time, the method began to yield a common result which had not been thought of when it was started* A sense of comparative values began to develop in one ? s mind. It became apparent that some of these questions were more urgent than others. A day came when I realised that a definite change had taken place in my own outlook. I had come to believe that China, a country in which I had taken no particular interest and had never expected to visit, presented a problem second in importance to no other. A con viction had entered my mind that the next serious vi THE CAPITAL QUESTION OF CHINA threat to the peace of the world would come from the state of the Far East. I was thus led to concentrate on the studyof China, and in doing so realised that my own previous in difference to that country and ignorance of its prob lems, shared as it is by an overwhelming majority of my fellow-countrymen, is, in itself, a dangerous condition. In dealing with China the Government has no public opinion behind it to determine its attitude, as it has when dealing with India, the League of Nations, the United States or other matters of equal importance. No human problem can be understood without some knowledge of the past out of which it has grown. I was therefore led to make some study of the history of China and Japan. This - book was begun with three objects in view firstly, to persuade my readers that China is a question of major importance which could not be further ignored without risk to the whole structure of human society; secondly, to give the historical background within readable compass; and thirdly, to explain the prevailing indifference to the subject and suggest the remedy, Events, which have moved faster than my pen, have accomplished the first of these objects before the book could be printed. In the last few months no newspaper reader can doubt that the present state of China is a menace to the peace of the world. The second and third objects are, however, rendered more urgent. It had been my intention to submit proofs of this book to the detailed criticism of a group of my fellow PREFACE vii members at Chatham House, whose knowledge of China, past and present, is better than mine. Had I been able to do so, I should issue these pages with less anxiety than I now feel. My reasons for omitting this safeguard is the time it would take. There are moments when bis dat gui cito dat is' the onlycanticle'. I shall therefore be grateful for any correc tions which readers may send me. Effect can be given to them if ever a reprint is possible. A preface should help potential readers to decide whether a book is worth the time it will take them to read it. From what I have here said, readers can see that the author can make no claim to expert know ledge of China. These pages are merely the result of studies made late in life by one seized with a strong conviction that he, in common with the mass of his countrymen, had too long been ignoring the state of China.