Chapter 26 The sale and purchase of the Middle East Railway

In modern history, the railway was a sharp weapon for the great powers to extend their influence in China.The Middle East Railway originally traversed the entire Northeast.After the Russo-Japanese War, Japan obtained the right to operate the southern section of the Middle East Railway from the defeated Russia. After the "September 18th" Incident, as Japan invaded and occupied the entire Northeast, the existence of the Middle East Railway was like a thorn in its side. It used its military power in the Northeast to oppress the Soviet Union to hand over the Middle East Railway.This railway starts from Changchun in the south and has a total length of 1,700 kilometers. It is the main artery in the northeastern part of the country. In 1929, Zhang Xueliang clashed with the Soviet Red Army in order to take back the Middle East Railway, but failed to take it back due to defeat.

After Japan occupied Northeast China, Japan and the Soviet Union began negotiations on the Middle East Railway issue in Tokyo. It lasted several years. Formation of the Agreement Drafting Committee.There were more than 40 talks, and the main content of the agreement was reached in 1934: the Soviet Union sold the Middle Eastern route rights to the puppet Manchukuo at a price of 140 million yen, and the puppet Manchukuo would pay 30 million yuan for the retirement allowance of Soviet employees. Later, this section of the railway was renamed North Manchukuo railway. In 1935, the three parties formally signed an agreement, and the Japanese and puppet redeemed the 1,700-kilometer Middle East Railway and its subsidiary properties at a price of 17 million yuan.Since then, the right to operate the railway in Northeast China has completely fallen into the hands of Japan's "Manchurian Railway". On March 23, 1935, representatives of the three parties formally signed the "Middle East Railway Sales Agreement" in Tokyo, Japan.