THE NEW CHINA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 183, 9 January 1912, Page 5

THE NEW CHINA.

A REMARKABLE MANIFESTO. ON BEHALF OF- THE REPUBLIC. By Cable—Press Association—-Copyright. Shanghai, January 7. Dr. Sun-Yat-Sen has issued a remarkable manifesto on behalf of the Republic. After a long recital of grievances he asserts that the policy of the Manchus has been one of unequivocal exclusion and unyielding, tyranny. Prior to the Manchu domination the land was open to foreign intercourse, and religious toleration existed, as was shown by the reception of Marco Polo, the famous Venetian traveller. The Manchus plunged, China into a state of benighted neutrality, and restricted foreign trade to the treaty., porta,, t The Republic would respect all treaties and loans entered into prior to the commencement of, the revolution, but would repudiate others. ' I The Republic hopfed to be admitted to the family of nations and allowed to co-operate in the great task of forwarding the civilisation of the world. THE CHINESE ARMY. Dr Morrison, the Peking correspondent of the London Times, supplies some interesting particulars of the Chinese army. Assuming that its effective strength is the paper strength, and that no man is absent, the total strength amounts to 240,815 men. Careful investigation, however, shews that these numbers are far beyond the real numbers-, and that the actual strength consists of 180,000 foreign drilled men with 162 batteries of mountain and field' artillery, each of six guns.' Of this number 160,000 are combatants, who hove received a more or less efficient military training. Foreign-drilled troops are now quartered in varying strength in each of the three provinces of Manchuria, in each of the 18 provinces of China proper and in the New Dominion, including Kuldja and Kashgaria, and; preparations are in progress for stationing in the future 2000 men in Mongolia, barracks to accommodate this number being now under construction in Urga. It is worthy of note that of all the officers in the Chinese army less than 3 per cent, are Manchus. Among the high commands in Peking there are very few Manchus. There are so few available that nearly all the senior officers in the first division—the Manchu division—are Chinese, the commander being a Shantung man of the old school. In the Guards, which was founded primarily as a Manchu division, but is now open to all classes, most of the officers are Chinese, not Manchu. The Minister for War is a Manchu named Yin Chang, who was trained for some years in the German and Austrian armies, and has twice been Minister to Berlin. He accompanied the Regent, Prince Chun, on his expiatory mission to Germany. His sympathies are naturally with the country in which he was educated. On the other hand the sympathies of the bulk of the .©fficrara under his command, their instincts arid training, are to a marked extent Japanese. More than 700 Chinese officers trained in Japan hold commands m'lhe Chinese army, and there are Btill 80' in"' : oapari completing, their training. Japanese, teachers in China itself are mucb-jiredweed in number. There were Q0; , there, are at present seven only—namely, one in. Canton, one in Wuchang, and-: fire.in Paotingfu, of whom two will return to Japan -liefoiw the end of the year, their places not being filled. There four German instructors, but not British, Practically all the teaching' fti 'the' army and in the military .schools is in the 'hands of the Chinese .Who. have been trained in Japan. The army js modelled on that of Japan. Japanese influence is paramount. Chinese educated in Japan acquire to a surprising degree the Japanese characteristics, especially that of secretiveness. They continue in China the intimate relations formed among themselves when at school in Japan. They are well trained as a rule. It is becoming a saying that unless you are trained in Japan you have little prospect of promotion in the Chinese army. Appointments are now mada from "foreign-educated" officers; the old practice of elevating men to high military commands who were Chinese scholars or Imperial favorites, destitute of military training, has been largely abandoned. About thirty of the officers have been educated in Germany, another thirty in France, one or two in Belgium, two at West Point (the brother of Dr Ch'en Chintao and the. nephew of Wen Tsungyao, the Assistant-Resident in Tibet), but none in England.