IN CHINA

Hokitika Guardian, 30 December 1932, Page 8

IN CHINA

A CRITICAL PERIOD

AUCKLAND, December 28.

It appears that tne (jmnesu proposal i,- oust Japan from Manchuria by armed foro- uau to luteiiaJiy w,. anti-Japanese movement throughout China i s not sponsored by the Government, what was reported wdn impressive detail, comments the Auckland Hdrald, a-s the project ol severe leading members of the Government is now declared to be merely *a draft resolution submitted to it 'by tue IvuomUHang, known also as the itcpnoli can or People’s Party. 'lne ! t e sa of : the proposal is presumably as first g.ven, for no use has been made” or the opportunity to publish a correction, but'as yet nothing more has been done by th c Government than to admit it for discussion at the present session of the .Central Executive. Even this acihowever, implies a serious regard- for the proposal. . No- Government, unless it were prepared 'to- oo litem pi ate action of Che kind, would gb so far as to give ear to: advocacy of a complete and urgent plan of ■ campaign. It may 'he that in, China, wnere there j s no steady, closely integrated system of political control, a loose method of conducting public 'business allows heed to any and every idea at a time of national excitement.; but this explanation is almost a disquieting as would be news of adoption of the proposal. Th t ,re is emphasised, however the resolution be understood, the inflammable state of things arising from impatience with d-’ay-'in calling Japan to account, and even should the Government refuse to give effect to the wish of the Kuomintang the fact remains that a largo and influential body of Chinese opinion Is 'bent on extreme measures to cope with Japan. Evidence accumulates in proof of this. It hovers the happenings of many months. The spirit of nationalism, although its first emergence was characterised by quiet fervour for a cause associated with: high ideals, has become fanatical and vehement. From thp recent virulence of jt s anti-foreigu ouL burst it has turned to 'hatred lof Japan as th 6 head and front of the offending. At this critical hour, when China may feel constrained to take into her own hands the confronting of Japan, it i 3 impossible to evade the truth that a strong Chinese movement is afoot to put the issue to th e test of war. This is a matter of facts, irrespective of opinions as to whether China would be: justified in launching a military attack. The movement has not recently arisen. Its origin -lies in the initial success in throwing off a foreign yoke, when the Manchu dynasty was brought to an e n d- iiv 1911. The young republic was soon more at the mercy of contending .'factions than it had eve,, been. Cantonese ambition, successful in challenging the weakened dominance of Peking, became "itself a prey of faction, and contending warlords strove' .for individual mastery, until out of the chaos Chiang Kai-shek climbed to power and gave Nanking political - importance. He achieved this by virtue of a reasonably policy as well as a strong personality. His plan favoured “the mmole of the road.” To gather a following fired with the purpose of putting down the turbulent warlords was as much his aim as to overcome trie Communist intrigue, inspired and directed by SToscow, that threatened to hand China "over to a, particularly noxious foreign Power. He succeeded, in part. Th e Hankow Government, backed by Russia, was short-lived. But ..it was oiits thing ■to beat back this menace and quite another to establish himself and diis Nanking Government. Some of the warlords , continued to defy him, each of them still playing for his own hand, and within the supporting Kuomuitang lact.on multiplied. There has. (oee.ii a menacing lack of trust among leading Ministers, many of whom have repudiated! his moderate policy. Only with the utmost difficulty lias he kept his post w'hile the personnel of me Central .Executive has changed again and again, through the rivalries of new groups clamouring and striving for position. And at every change he has oeen edged a little further from supremacy, and always by a group determined to load China to war on Japan. This appears ■to be the weakness and .peril /of the present situation. With whatever voice China speaks at 'Geneva ther e is no assurance of a sincere readiness either to take advice or to .geek peace. It is not so long since there Were two Chinese voice's there, speaking different things, and now appeals for intervention by thr League in the quarrel with Japan are falsified by news of a maintained and growng determination to conduct a mass attack, by rushing troops and supplies to (Manchuria, directing a coinprehen.gfve boycott of Japanese goods, throughout China, ’and officially organising an abti. Japanese movement everywhere in’the: republic.

If thig ■determination ‘bo given its head, the outcome for China will be disastrous. It will be met by a zest for fight equally patriotic, as deeply inspired by a sense of outraged justice, and more capable of embodying itself in the needful methods of the fray. China is enfeebled by years of misrule, social disorganisation, lawlessness and limoovorishinrr civil war. Her only tsalvation to-day is in peace; without it she can enjoy only a specious and temporary unity and have no economic prosperity. While knowing want, Japan can better afford a .struggle. 'Sho may be wounded to the quick but not beyond spaedy' recovery, whereas China, may he irrevocably dismembered. "Even if the Kuoinintang proposal h? rejected