In Outer Mongolia, said Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek at a Chungking press conference, a plebiscite was under way. It was being conducted under the terms of the Sino-Russian treaty (TIME, Sept. 3), which gave Outer Mongolia's one million Soviet-oriented, cattle-raising tribesmen the right to vote for fusion with China, or for autonomy.
Chungking had several observers at the polls. But long before the results were in, the Central Government wrote off its claim to nominal sovereignty. Generalissimo Chiang's regime prepared to establish diplomatic relations with Premier Marshal Choibalsan's "independent," Sovietized Republic of Outer Mongolia. This week Moscow reported a "unanimous" vote for "independence"...