The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1926. THE MODERN CHINA.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 May 1926, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1926. THE MODERN CHINA.

Arc amis in China for u considerable time past have been in a state of unrest. .Modern China is very different to the China the world regarded for long years past. There is an explanation for the change, Lind a recent writer has given his views on the matter to the world at large. Dealing with the publication a reviewer states that the gentleman wiio writes under tho 1 iseudonym of Putnam Weale is a recognised authority on China. 'There is probably no one- living who possesses a more intimate knowledge of the national psychology of the .Republic and of tho tortuous byways of Chinese politics. In “Why China Sees Red” ho

gives iin account of the events which r led up to the riots last year, and he elucidates the whole involved situation. He begins l>v tracing the process by which C hina has become industrialised. Since the'dawn of the Twentieth Century the coast and the riverine cities have been transformed. They have imported from across the seas not only materiid improvements and mechanical devices, hut new ideas and types of discord. “The factory whistles summoned every day larger armies, which grew from year to year until they hail become the same dreadful problem as in the industrial West. Where there . were formerly i dozen compounds screeching with machinery, there were now hundreds if not thousands; a new China, not of the treaties, hut of tho international order, which eludes control had arisen. During the World War hundreds of thousands of Chinese coolies had heen drafted into labour corps. They returned accustomed to the idea of violence. The army of factory hands received constant additions of men who had served in provincial levies in the civil war and had learned the same lesson. Another inflammable element was the students, the product of the new system of education, and the vociferous exponents of nationalism. Formerly the national and provincial capitals sheltered only tho examining bodies; the student prepared himself in the seclusion of his own home. But “modern. China committed the error of placing the seats oT tho new learning in tho heart of her capital cities, thus tending to make her universities centres of perpetual uproar and disaffection under the loose republican regime.” The sttidenfs are an organised political force, and indulge in “demonstrations” which the authorities seem powerless to control. Thus they burned the house of a Cabinet Minister who had been guilty of unpopular loan 'arrangements with Japan. Last May the Minister for Education proposed to make the examinations harder, with the object of weeding out the undesirables. The Peking students attacked his house and wrecked it. The agitation spread to other cities, while industrivd troubles in Tsingtao, Shanghai, and elsewhere added fuel to the flames. Putnam Weale is satisfied that even had the incident of May 30th. not occurred, there would have been an outbreak. That fateful '.afternoon, however, precipitated it. May 30th. was a Saturday, and the

bulk of the European police organisation in Shanghai was up country or engaged in sport. Early in the after- i non a warning wiis issued that a stu- i dent demonstration "was imminent. Soon thousands began to assemble in : the principal street of Shanghai. Inspector Everson with a handful of subordinates endeavoured to maintain order, but before long they were fighting for their lives. Everson fell back from 1 the ntain thoroughfare iqion the police station, pursued' by the mob. The reserve police. Chineso and Indian, were instructed to load their carbines. “As the crowd surged forward, roaring with rage, and ignorant of what was about to happen, a warning, which was never heard, was shouted. Then two sharp volleys were heard, -1-1 shots in all, ushering in a period which will never sec China the same.” Next day Shanghai was ail armed camp, and thence the conflagration swept to other cities. The riots were directed against the foreign elements generally, liut the British bore the brunt of their fury. In this was clearly discernable the hand of Russia, which hates Britain with peculiar venom, because she is the chief obstacle to the success of the Bolshevist plans. Putnam AA’eale devotes ail informative diopter to Soviet policy in China. Since the war China has been a major interest to Russia, and no pains have been spared to win her over. Promises and concessions have been lavished upon her. To the Russian Embnssy at Peking have been sent the most subtle and resourceful diplomats. Jofitre for example, had at one time been Russian Minister in Berlin. Karnkhan. bis successor, arrived, like the Greeks, with bis bands full of gifts. He presented Cluing Tso-lin, the Northern War Lord, with n golden sword, studded with diamonds, while the smaller fry were not forgotten. The Embassy exhales an aroma of backslides!). Karakhan, luplilce the other members of the diplomatic corps, mingles freely with the Chinese. Ho f 1-0110011 ts the tea houses and restaurants, and converses with their patrons. “There is no doubt,” in fact, “that China has been the scene of a maximum Bolshevist effort.” Yet China has not lioon particularly responsive. The Rods have formed “pockets” here and there, but China in the mass lias been proof against the blandishments. The author criticises the attitude ol the Western Powers on the Chinese question. He accuses them of indecision and inertia. If they bad acted promptly the outbreak would have been avoided. and their position would have been ever so much stronger than it is to-day. “ll is a well-authenticated fact,” ho says, “that you can do anything with any mass of Chinese if you are prepared tu meet the situation al its inception; and nothing with them if the occasional madness which their peculiar nervous nicolvinisni invites is allowed lull sway.” A year ago Chang Tsolin. the Manchurian war lord, informed the British and American representatives that if lie were given financial support and facilities for obtaining munitions lie would purge Chinn of Bolshevik influences. His offer was ignored. Taller in the year another golden opportunity was let slip. In the middle of 1925 “the despatch of a lew British steamers tq North China . . . .living long pennants, dot-orated with Chinese characters, announcing them as ‘shipping contributed by British merchants to fetch lov»d Chinese troops to expel the Communists from Canton,’ would have created such an enormous stir in China and won such a response that its effect would have lasted as long as that of General Gor- . don’s cainunign against the Taipings.” But it i.s not too late to recover the lost ground. The author’s prescription i.s the strengthening of British representation by the appointment of a High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary, with residences at Peking. Shanghai, and Hongkong, “someone with great world experience, who would not ho tied to his desk, hut would he at liberty to travel freely, and' influence by per- » so ml contact the leading personalities of the Chinese political world, could J not only restore the old friendship, hut draw profit from the seething cauldron of nationalism.”