REDS IN CHINA

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 120, 17 November 1932, Page 22

REDS IN CHINA

FIGHT WITH COMMUNISM

ALTERED TACTICS

With the arrival of General Chiang Kai-Shek in Hankow, central Yangtse port, the long advertised campaign of the National Government to rid the provinces of Anhui, Kiangsi., Hupeh, Hunan, Honan, and Fukien of Communißt bandits has started, writes J. C. Sun in the "San Francisco Chronicle."

General Chiang is Commander-in-chief of the combined anti-Red forces of these provinces, with General Li Chai-sun as deputy. Under these two are a commander and. a deputy commander for each province. The Nineteenth Route Army, which distinguished itself at the defence of Shanghai and Woosung against the Japanese last February, has been assigned the task of clearing Fukien of the Communists. The bandit situation in Fukien was very serious, when the Reds from Kiangsi occupied, one city after another and threatened Amoy., Foreign warships were rushed from Shanghai, but at the last moment the Communists changed their minds and withdrew from the vicinity of the port. Kiangsi is the worst province in the bandit-ridden belt. Since 1927, when the Kuomintang broke with the Communists, it has been a base of operations. Save Nanehang, the provincial capital, and a few cities on the Yangtse, a great part of the province is in the hands of the Reds who have set up a Soviet Government in the interior and administer their territory along approved 'Bolshevik lines. All the wealthy have gone and the people that remain usually have nothing to lose and everything to gain by joining the Soviet cause. Tho Reds have organised the peasants into self-defence corps which work hand in glove with them. General Ho Yingching, Minister of War in the National Government, is in charge of the operations against the Reds in Kiangsi, but owing to the lack of funds tho compaign has made little headway.Next to Kiungsi the worst province is Hupeh. Hankow was the seat of the radical Government in 1927 when the Communists, led by Michael Borodin, Soviet adviser to the Kuomintang, had their chance to practise their theories. Although the experiment failed, the influence of Moscow has never been entirely uprooted from this area. During the last twelve months Communists from the country reached the neighbourhood of Hankow several times, and were repulsed only after great effort of tho defence authorities. RAILWAY LINES CUT. The countryside of' Hupeh has been devastated by Reds, cooperating with their comrades in Kiangsi and other neighbouring provinces. They are particularly active on the southern section of the Peiping-Hankow railway and have succeeded in cutting it more than once lately. They are trying to establish contact with the Communistbandits of Southern Honan. This province, like Hupeh, is governed by an adherent of General Chiang Kaishek, named Liv Chih. General Liv has mobilised all his forces against the Reds. In Anhui and Hunan Communists aro not so formidable as in the other four provinces. The- Government holds that if Kiangsi, Hupeh, Honan, and Fukien can be cleared of ■ Reds, the Communists in other parts of the country will present no great problem. Last summer General Chiang led a similar campaign against the Communists in these provinces, but he failed to make much headway, largely because of financial , stringency and inability to pay the soldiers for many months. This seriously affected the morale of the men, who. often made common cause with the enemy. Since then the financial situation has grown worse. The disastrous floods of last autumn and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria have drained all available resources.of tho National Government. Since last January, the administrative expenditures have been reduced by 50 per cent., nevertheless the Government entered this summer's drive against Communism with no better financial backing than last year. CHANGED WAYS. Even in Government circles there is a^ growing opinion which maintains that something other than military force should be employed in dealing with Communists. Recently Mr. Sun Fo, son of the Kuomintang founder, Sun Vat-sen, urged that the time had come when the Government should, allow the Communist party to exist along with other political organisations. More recently, Mr. T. V. Soong, in his letter of resignation to the Government from the post of Minister of Finance, expressed doubt as to the wisdom of the Government in raising funds to carry on a military campaign against Communism and banditry. Since then ho has been induced to withdraw his resignation, but he is reported still adamant on this question. The Communists, too, seem to have undergone a change. Instead of plundering towns they now avoid terroristic methods except in extreme cases and try to win over tho peasant population by persuasion.. They are no longer so hostile to the intellectual, classes; in fact,-they are doing their best to enlist the services of college graduates. •. .. ; Officially,- Communism is still under a ban, but the laws against it are no longer so strictly enforced. There is a dawning thought that Pommunism will not be stamped out by force, and may be, by better government. Again, there are many Chinese who believe that an expedition against the Chinese rebels in Manchuria who have abetted the Japanese military would bo wiser than a campaign. against Communism.