CHINA
Sir,-Your leader on China in The Listener of July 14 is excellent in so far as it draws attention to the country, to which we in New Zealand owe a great debt, for had China submitted to the Japs, New Zealand to-day would probably be an occupied country. In other respects, however, the article is to be deplored. In the first place, whether you intended it or not, the inference to be drawn from your comments is that the Chinese Communists are to be blamed for disunity within China. While it may be true that they recently tefused to attack the enemy (for it is impossible to be certain of news from China under present conditions), it is, in the light of past events, most unlikely. If space allowed, I could quote from the works of Edgar Snow, Lin Yutang, J. M. D. Pringle, Agnes Smedley, James Bertram, and others to support my statement, but I shall have to restrict myself to two points: firstly, it was the Communists who were mainly responsible for the formation of the United Front; secondly, accusations similar to this one have been levelled at the Chinese Communists before, and have been proved completely a reversal of the truth. It should also be remembered that as far back as 1939, the Central Government was reported to have had half a million troops watching the Communists, so that possibly the situation has not deteriorated so much as it might appear. In reading your leader, it is easy to overlook your early statement that exhaustion and isolation are the main factore
in recent reversals met by the Chinese forces, for you do not recall attention to this in the latter portion of the article. That these are the most important factors is proven by the fact that following the arrival of American air assistance on the central front, some of these losses were vindicated. Only in your final sentence do you really hit a nail on the head-*", . . the political and economic problems of China ... are not insoluble, if friends help... 2’ Some of that help may be beyond our capacity, military aid for instance, but there are a number of worthwhile ways in which we can all assist, not least. of which is by doing all we can to gain an informed, sympathetic understanding of China’s problems and sufferings.
PHILIP
MATTHEWS
(Auckland).
{Our sole purpose was to convey the fact that the situation in China is disturbing. If our correspondent found anything else there he
was iooking for it.-Ed.]
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 11, Issue 271, 1 September 1944, Page 5
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424CHINA New Zealand Listener, Volume 11, Issue 271, 1 September 1944, Page 5
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