COMMUNIST CHINA

Evening Star, Issue 22450, 22 September 1936, Page 10

COMMUNIST CHINA

A CURIOUS CAMPAIGN THE RAID INTO SHANSI Overshadowed by the controversy hetween Nanking and the south-western leaders the Communist problem hap receded temporarily into the background of Chinese internal affairs, ]y r0 * e Shanghai correspondent of th ® Chester Guardian recently. 1 ernaps, therefore, this may .be a convenient point at which to review Bed activities during the past few months, and .to sketch briefly the present distribution of the Red forces. _ . , During February tne Communist army commanded by Ho Lung an Hsiao Keh began to trek from . ®Th across Kweichow arid Yunnan into the province of Hsikiang, near the mountainous border between China and Tibet. There they were joined by Chu ten s army from Northern bzechwan. Estimated to total about 18,000 armed men, plus perhaps an equal number of un- ' armed followers, these combined forces occupied the area dear Litang, about 110 miles west of Tachienlu (also called Kanting), the provincial capital, iney are reported now to be moymg northwards, with the object, it is thought, of linking up with other Red armies in Northern Shensi. THE “ REDS ” IN SHANSI. There were two other Red groups in Szechwan—one under Mao Tze-Tung in the east and one under Peng Teh-huai in the west. Under Government pressure these two groups joined forces and moved across through Kansu into Shensi, where they linked up with a Communist army which had long been operating in the northern part of the province. The combined strength ot these three groups was about 45,000. Last March part of this force crossed the Yellow River and penetrated into South-west Shansi as far west as henchow and as far south as Kiwo. At least 10 Nanking' divisions were sent into Shansi against them, and early in May the Reds went back again across the Yellow River to North Shensi. Here they split up into two columns, and, marching still further northward, concentrated around the point where the four provinces of ■ Shensi, Suiyuan, Kansu, and Ninghsia come together. According to recent advices they are now moving slowly westward into Ninghsia and Kansu. Military observers have been impressed by some peculiar features of the recent Red incursion into Shensi. They point out that there was virtually no serious fighting, and that the invaders were able to get back across the Yellow River unscathed after extracting large sums of money from the_ local population and capturing a considerable quan- ' tity of arms and ammunition from the provincial troops. A correspondent of the ‘ North China Daily News,’ who visited Shansi shortly after the Reds left the province, states that the raiders left remarkably few traces of their passing; there was scarcely apy of the usual looting and burning. REMAINS A MYSTERY. The whole invasion remains a mystery (he writes), especially to those who were actually on the spot and saw what was happening with their own eyes. There are several striking points: the unhindered crossing by the Reds of a broad and supposedly well-defended river; their unusually mild behaviour during their stay in the province; the massing of vast numbers of troops, most of whom made no attempt to come to grips with the invaders, and the sudden way in which the Reds disappeared again, quite comfortably and unembarrassed. The Reds were armed with lists of the inhabitants of each village through which they passed. These had been carefully prepared beforehand by some local sympathiser, and showed the incomes of all the wealthier people. Against each name was written the amount the victim was considered to be good for. If this sum was paid over the Reds departed without interfering with the other inhabitants. Only if the victim resisted payment was violence resorted to. According to the ‘ North China Daily News ’ correspondent, the general verdict of the people regarding the Red invaders was: “ They were hard on the wealthy, but good to the poor.” TROOPS CONCENTRATED. Strangest of all in this strange story (he writes) was the tremendous concentration of troops against these few thousand badly-armed Communists. At one time there were over a dozen Central Government divisions between Taiyuan and the Yellow River, not to mention the Shansi armies—say, all together, well over 300,000 men. In spite of this hardly any fighting took place. The Central Government troops advanced with extraordinary slowness, never properly engaging the Reds at all. _ Had_ it not_ been_ for the fact of foreign missionaries being locked up in some of the towns they would probably have advanced even slower. As one southern soldier told me laughingly: “Huh! We didn’t come to fight the Reds, we came to throw out Old Yen.” The reference was, of course, to General Yen Hsi-shan, virtual-dictator of Shansi province. These unusual circumstances have caused some speculation as to whether there may not have been collusion between the Nanking, troops and the invaders. It is suggested that the Central Government may . have been prepared to wink at the Red foray into Shansi, provided it were kept within agreed limits, for the sake of having an excuse to send troops into the province (where part of them have remained), thus again establishing, by means of an “ anti-Rod campaign.” control over a semi-indepen-dent region. It is doubtful, however, whether anything in the nature of a general understanding exists between Chiang Kai-shek and the Communist leaders, though the latter have offered more than once to make common cause with him against Japan.