[Enclosure]
Appeal to All Nations by the National Assembly
of the Far Eastern Republic
The National Assembly which was elected by the entire population of
the Russian Far East and which is vested with full power is
compelled once more to lodge a decisive protest against Japanese
aggression in the Russian Far East. The aggression has aroused the
extreme indignation of the National Assembly.
It is now the fourth year that foreign troops have invaded the
Russian Far East. The Japanese sword is suppressing the will of the
Russian people. We, the elected representatives of the Russian Far
East, from the provinces of Maritime, Saghalien, Priamur, Amur,
TransBaikal, PriBaikal, remember very well all stages of the
Japanese intervention; all the atrocities committed by the Japanese
against the Russian people in the Far East. All the members of the
National Assembly are ready to testify to the Japanese endeavors to
strengthen and continue their intervention by falsehoods, deceits
and atrocities. The Japanese are aiming to seize our territory and
turn it into a Japanese colony. We also have in our possession a
great number of documents regarding the Japanese schemes to seize
our territory.
Japanese troops continue to pour into Vladivostok. Japan controls the
entire Russian-Pacific coast. The attack against the [Page 718] Japanese troops in Nikolaevsk in 1920
was the result of Japanese provocation. The Japanese are building
fortifications, are digging trenches and putting up barbed wire on
Russian territory. Russian rivers have been mined by the Japanese.
The mouth of the Amur River has been closed to Russian ships and
made a base for attacks upon us. In order to extend their occupation
the Japanese seized Saghalien and are exercising all the civil and
military authority there. They are disposing of forestry, fishing
and mining resources. Russians are prohibited from entering
Saghalien without Japanese permission. Russians are arrested on
suspicion of having relations with the legal Russian government.
By prolonging civil war the Japanese create conditions warranting the
continuation of intervention; by ruining the economic life of the
Russian Far East they aim to spread their own influence.
The Maritime Provincial Assembly which was elected by the entire
population of the province was endeavoring to establish a democratic
rule through A Constituent Assembly, devising means for the
unification and pacification of the country, but the Japanese
frustrated their attempts by assisting reactionaries in the coup-d’etat in Vladivostok and along the
Ussuri Railroad.
Contrary to the agreement of April 29th which provided that no armed
forces be permitted in the Japanese zone, the Japanese have been
allowing and aiding in organizing and maintaining anti-government
forces. This paralyzed the efforts of the government to restore
normal life and frustrated all attempts to eliminate the marauding
bands.
On May 29th, the Russian militia which was despatched to
Nikolsk-Ussuriisk was disarmed by the Japanese who allowed the town
to be captured by the Semenovites. The Japanese prevented the search
for arms in the house of a Japanese subject on Komarovsky Street,
and arrested all our armed detachments and the commanding staff.
During the coup-d’état of May 26th, the
Japanese disarmed and arrested the government troops who were
resisting the Merkulov rebels.
The seizure of the Maritime province and the introduction of the rule
of Semenov proved that Japan’s aggressiveness in the Russian Far
East is not objected to by other powers.
At the Dairen conference between Japan and the Far Eastern Republic,
the Japanese tried to obtain the consent of the Far Eastern Republic
that Japanese troops should remain in Siberia, that fortifications
of Russian cities be destroyed and that the Japanese should obtain
all concessions in the territory along the Tartar Straights—all of
which means loss of Russian sovereignty and dependence on Japan
economically and politically. Failing in this the Japanese [Page 719] rendered assistance to
Merkulov to launch an attack for which the Japanese supplied
munitions; and the entire responsibility for this attack rests upon
the Japanese.
The Russian people of the Far East repeatedly protested to the whole
world against the Japanese atrocities. We protest against the
Washington Conference discussing questions in which we are vitally
interested without our participation. We strongly protest against
the continued presence of Japanese troops on Russian territory,
which is an encrouchment upon our sovereignty and independence.
Chairman:
Suhovy
Members:
Borodovkin
Dumkin
Sayapin
Fedorov
Mer
Loboda
Yakimov
Anziferov
Shertgov
Nikiforov
Lukyanchikov
Dombino
Dated at Chita,
December 9th,
1921.
