CONSIDERATIONS THAT MAY WEIGH.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 182, 19 August 1937, Page 4

CONSIDERATIONS THAT MAY WEIGH.

lt,Was s^id hete yesterday, that -personally tlie Ciiinese ruler Cliiarig Kai-shgk tvauld ptobably p'refer greatly to post,"pt>ile Ctiinilig te teal dfccisivfe grips With Ja^ari diitii tbe eqiiipiiieiit fcft his aririies Svas niDre complete and its intthitioning hidre ieliabld.- On tfais point it will be hdted tbat oiie of • to-dayJs rflgssdgds, hpgatehiiy GFigihatihg Iroin Mdscow, Spfeaks of th6 quaiity hnd qiiahtity o'f Chma^s iieW afrilain^nts as baviiig Surbrised Tapan. This may weil bo the case and yet liaVS dhinaj So far as fcone6fns tvar maGhinis,- niaterial aiid supplies, in no very strong position to sustain a protracted strliggle wit-ii d couiitfy Sb thot'Oughly Wfell organised for war as is Japah. Tberfe atej kow§vets otbe'r fconslderations that are said td carry at id'ast equal weight with General Chiang in his desire tp avert for the present anything like a fully declared war with j^pan and, if fighting there must be, to localise it as much as possible. It has to be remembered that aimost Gontinually since# qdarter ©f a oentury back, the Chinese rejbiiMie Was establisbed, tbe coiihtry has beeri ih a state of itltefttal turmoil and Witboufc a govefrimeht that toiiid in any Way" be sdid td ekdfcisd geiiferal Contiol.- It is ihdeed/ only within the last year or two that Chiang Kai-shek's efforts at political linificatieh dhd fecofthinie developffielit haVe begun to" ShoW i rdit. EVeii riOW, aitilOiigh it is . ackhpwiedged that he bas Workdd a ihairveilolis im|Jroveitient in.these respects, it canont be said that a position of assured stability has yet been reached. ... * There is, indeed, still existjng m some of the areas more remote frorn^ Nanking ari under-current of jealousy on the part of War-iordS who have hetetofore exercised practically iridebeildeht rule aiid a teiuctkrice to let Chiang' s Governmeht gO too far iii seoliHrig a plaee of doniination. In fatt| it is said by dbservers oh the spot that it is only tlie seiiSatldii bf Steady pressiire firoiii outside tbe country and, of GOiirse, espeG'ially froiii ; Japari tbat has iii these regioilS lfadllted soine shoW of Subihissioh to the' Matiking • - Goveriimerit. - To tbis eiid it is oiily the realisatioii tbat in unity alone caii there be any strefigtli to off.ei: resistahGe that has opetated. Of all thiS Geiieral Chiadg is oiily too fiilly consddUSi add he recdgiiiseS that tbe great task he has undertaken of trying to SOlidfy Chiiia as a nation is as yet far from being fully acco'mplished. To coffiplete it some futthet years of external peace are aimost essentialj and to gain those he iiiay Well be inclined to make Some present sacfifices in the hope Of irecovering them later on when strength has been more fully devSoped. Thiis it iiiight coiitent hiiii noW to put Up sbirie fairly strong show of resistaiice to Japatt'S aggtessive movenients.

On the other hand, it is Said that, evOii if Japan does not Want to have to deal with a China strong in a military setise, neither is it to het interest, in establishing the ttadiiig relations that constitute ohe of her cliief aims, to see China once more thrown into the cbaotic conditions that had so long existed. Thus, a patched-up peace may be of much more conterii io Cbiha than to Japan. All the feconstructive efforts of the past decsde may have to be fcast overboard if the prestige of the cetitral Government siitfers too seriously 111 the present Gonlict. On the other sidej hoWever, suchTprogress as japan has made towards recovefiiig her trade markets in China would be jeopafdised by the upsetting of The Nanking Gov^ erniEtertt. The stabilisation of conditions in the Far East— Japan' s avowed aiid vital aihi—depehds very largely upon stabilisation of conditions in China.- As a nation of realists the Japanese can seareely but In the eiid reeognise this. Though while nationalistic feeling is at its presenF fever heat, this aiay not be allewed to cotint for the ffioinent, caimer judgiilent may yet prevaib especiaily if jiidicious ptessUre is gently applied by soine of the other intereSted Great PoWers, 1 taism r i r i irr t~~ "t