WAR IN CHINA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 February 1939, Page 11

WAR IN CHINA

SUFFERINGS. OF CIVILIAN POPULATION

JAPANESE BOMBING HORRORS.

MADAME CHIANG KAI-SHEK REVIEWS POSITION.

The progress of the Sino-Japanese War, the sufferings of the civilian population, and the work of aiding Chinese refugee children is told in a letter received by the Hon W. E. Barnard, of Napier, chairman of the New Zealand Council for the “Adoption” of Chinese Children, from Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Commander of the simo Kai-shek, .Commander of the Chinese Forces.

Madame Chiang Kai-shek thanks the New Zealand Council for its contributions towards the relief of the orphans. Special attention is being devoted to the physical and mental development of the children. In her letter Madame Chiang KaiShek states, inter alia: “We have received three instalments, one of 22,000 dollars', a second of 21,000 dollars and a third of 48.000 dollars. For the total of 91,000 I send what appear to be my belated thanks and appreciation on behalf of my people and the war orphans who will benefit. The delay in personal acknowledgment of New Zealand’s generosity has been due to my lengthy absence with the Generalissimo on various battle fronts in Hupeh, Hunan, Kiangsi, and Kwangtung Provinces, from which tour we reached Chungking on December 8. “It will interest you to know that about 14,000 war refugee children have been moved from the war zones into the western provinces of Szechwan, Kweichow and Kwangsi, The majority are in Szechwan. “The further we are compelled to withdraw by superior Japanese armament and bombers, the greater becomes the distress of the people. The Japanese, despite world opinion, have not reduced in any way the relentlessness with which they are pursuing the people to demoralise and impoverish them if they fail to kill them. “We are continuing the resistance. In accordance with the only strategical policy that we could adopt, our forces are being withdrawn further and farther westward when the pressure of the overwhelming equipment of the Japanese has threatened to effect annihilation of some of our forces.

PAYING THE PRICE. “Our policy is and has, been to make the Japanese pay as heavy a price as possible for all the ground they cover. We pay a heavy price, too, but that is inevitable, because our armament is outclassed by that of the Japanese. Therefore we are unable to meet them on anything like an equal footing in that regard. “The valour of our soldiers, however, has caused the Japanese to mobilise their whole nation and raise loan after loan for the purpose of accomplishing what they thought they could do in three months’ time when they began their attempt to conquer China.

“We have been fighting now for over 17 months. Our forces have been compelled to withdraw from great areas of our country, but that does not mean that the Japanese are able to occupy the evacuated territory in peace, or to exploit it. Guerillas are operating from our fighting lines right to the coast in every part of China. In fact, wherever there are Japanese units there are armed Chinese to resist and harrass them.

“Japanese qccupation is mostly confined to lines of communication and to some cities. Reports from independent observers state that their great plans for the exploitation of North China are falling to the ground for a variety of reasons. "The Japanese are broadcasting continuously that they are establishing a ‘Federal Government’ in China. They say, too, that they are engaged in fighting Communism. But during recent weeks they have broadcast the programme for their so-called ‘Federal Government’ and it is the exact plan of the Communists of some years ago. when the ‘anti-imperialist’ campaign was being conducted in China.

METHODS OF WAR. “The methods of the Japanese in conducting this war have not altered in one iota from what they were at the beginning. They then horrified the world by their ruthless bombing of innocent people, and the destruction of peaceful villages, towns and cities. For some reason the world, or the newspapers of the world, seem to have become quite blase, for they seldom mention the terrible devastation that is still being continued throughout the length and breadth of our country. The Japanese advertise their bombing raids, but the world does not seem to realise how widespread and far-reaching are the effects of these operations. In the course of my visits to the fronts in Hupeh, Hunan, Kiangsi, and Kwangtung provinces during the past few months, my experience of what ruthless warfare can be has been tremendously enlarged. Japanese bombers are cruising all the time, destroying people and property remote from battle lines, and having nothing to do with military operations. They wreak havoc everywhere. BOMBING TERRORS. “While we were at Kweilin two weeks ago Japanese war planes bombed a part of the business section of the city and destroyed between 200 and 300 shops and houses in addition to killing many innocent non-comba-tants. It was terrible to see the great fire that developed, wiping out the possessions of innocent people. “There was no military objective anywhere near this spot. In fact, all over the city bombs had at one time or another previously been dropped by the Japanese, demolishing shops and houses in one place and causing fires in others.

“It is the philosphy of the survivors that is so striking. In no time they are building shacks on the ashes, or continuing their business in any section of their establishments which have escaped the effects of the bombs. I have seen shopkeepers resuming business with the top parts of their houses blown to atoms, with broken rafters, smashed furniture, and belongings dangling about them. “Within a few hourse after the raid at Kweilin I saw such a sight and saw people in what was a shop, but what looked now like a distorted woodpile. And what was the man selling and the people buying so close to direful calamity? Tooth brushes! Think of it! But this is the spirit that is going to prevent the Chinese people from being conquered by the Japanese. “The migration of people westwards is probably one of the greatest in human history. If you will look at a map of China, and run a rule down the railway line from, say, Peiping to Canton, you will see that the bulk of China is westward of that line. East of it is the great agricultural section of China which is being ravaged by the Japanese. To the west of it the country, hitherto remote, is absorbing the great masses who have been forced to leave their homes and their farms in the east.

“These people are penetrating to the nooks and corners of the mountains west. They are taking with them as much as possible of their handicrafts, and we are helping them to get as much equipment there as we can so that industries can be re-start-ed and so that the natural resources may in due course be utilised for the rehabilitation of our country. Not much imagination is needed when looking at the map of China to understand what all this will mean. All the west is now connected by motor' highways and railways are gradually being constructed. “There is every prospect of a new China being built up in this far west. Not only are farmers and artisans pouring into the region, but, also, the colleges and the intellectuals are reestablishing themselves there. They will surely lay the foundation for new national aspirations.