IS LA GUARDIA RIGHT ABOUT CHINA?

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 370, 26 July 1946, Page 8

IS LA GUARDIA RIGHT ABOUT CHINA?

Red Cross Doctor Speaks of Corruption and Civil Strife

HE announcement of F. H, La Guardia, Director-General of UNRRA, that the shipment of all relief supplies to China, except vital foods, is being stopped, probably came as a shock to many of us when we read it in our newspapers. But the decision merely recognises a situation, a "scandalous situation," which has existed in China for several months, according to Dr. Allan Dixon, of the British Red Cross and Order of St. John, who has just arrived in New Zealand after working in China. As far as the interior of China is concerned, the withholding of further UNRRA supplies won’t make much difference, at least not for some time, Dr. Dixon told The Listener. UNNRA shipments have been held up in Shanghai all along, and only a small percentage has been getting out into the interior. There were sufficient stocks now in Shanghai to maintain that trickle of supplies for some time. "The hold-up of ships and supplies in Shanghai has been a scandal for months. La Guardia’s decision is not so much a political gesture as a practical necessity. There is no point in continuing to pile up supplies in the port if they can’t be distributed. The ships and the goods might as well be sent somewhere else where they can do more good." "Why can’t they be distributed?" we asked. "There are several reasons, but the great distances to be covered and the bad state of all forms of transport in China is the main one," said Dr, Dixon, "Roads and railways are in a pretty hopeless state: roads especially, when it comes to large-scale transportation.

One convoy of trucks going out into the interior in a week goes nowhere. It’s not lack of trucks: UNRRA has trucks lying idle all over the country. It’s the state of the roads. UNRRA has also been sending railway engines to China, but engines. aren’t any use without tracks, and there has been considerable destruction of the few lines that did exist before the war." River Transport Would Help Dr. Dixon mentioned that the cost of unloading cargo at Shanghai was very high: it had in fact been estimated as being as high as the cost of sending the cargo all the way from America. "What is the solution? Or is there any solution?" "The only way to speed up transportation would be to make more use of river boats. The main bulk of supplies in China must be carried by water, and it would make a difference if more ships wefe allowed up the Yangtse. Oceangoing ships could easily travel as far up the river as Hankow, and perhaps for ‘another 100 miles. But'the Chinese authorities don’t seem keen to allow foreign flags up the Yangtse; possibly because Chinese shipowners would object."

Banditry was not such a _ serious obstacle to the distributors of relief supplies as might be supposed, continued Dr. Dixon. What was serious was thieving at the wharves, Shanghai seemed to be the worst port of all for that. When supplies were loaded off a ship on to lighters, there would be swarms of little junks all around, and goods disappeared at an astonishing rate. He knew a doctor who had had suitcases stolen from under his very nose while he was watching other luggage a little way off. Occasionally as much as a quarter of a whole cargo would be lost, most of it re-ap-pearing later on the black market. The black market, of course, was one of the most important and disturbing factors in China to-day. Chinese "Penicillin" Mention of the black market reminded Dr. Dixon of the subject of penicillin: "The Chinese heard early about the discovery of this drug and started making their own. The? put it up as a coloured liquid which perhaps may have had some useful psychological effect but certainly no bacteriological effect. In addition, genuine penicillin was in great demand on the black market, and there was also a big demand for empty bottles of the genuine variety; because they were filling the bottles up with some concoction or other and selling it under the original penicillin label. As a result we had to be careful at the hospital to destroy penicillin bottles. It was the same with whisky bottles: if they weren’t destroyed you might easify get them sold back to you containing something that certainly wasn’t whisky. ‘Penicillin, by the way, was used in China for every conceivable ailment from T.B. to housemaid’s knee."

Nationalists v. Communists We asked whether the conflict between the National Government and the Communists was affecting the distribution and allocation of UNRRA supplies. Dr. Dixon said that officially it made no difference, but in fact a vast proportion of the material went into Nationalist hands: that was because it had to enter China through Nationalist ports "and travel through Nationalist controlled territory to get to the Communists. At the few points where supplies did enter Communist territory there was a great deal of red tape to hold it up; all packages would be searched for hidden arms and so on. Dr, Dixon added that he had been told that when any UNRRA supplies reached Communist areas, they went to the people who really needed them, whereas in Nationalist areas there was some ground for the complaint that a good proportion of supplies went to people who did not need them so much, to the Army, or on to the black market. In short, what with one thing and another, La Guardia’s decision to withhold further UNRRA supplies was quite understandable,

"Do you think there is any possibility of the two big political parties coming to terms?" we asked. "Is there any chance of a really united China emerging even in the fairly distant future?" "Frankly, I very much doubt it," replied Dr. Dixon. "Of course, China was considerably unified by the war against Japan, but the two political systems are so much opposed that I can’t see much likelihood that they will come together. It is going to take a\very long time for China to get her house in order-and it is my opinion that what America has done in supplying arms to the Chinese Army is not going to help much." Too Many Soldiers We asked Dr. Dixon to elaborate. He said he thought that one of the main reasons why China was finding such difficulty in recuperating was that the country was still supporting such large armies. The military controlled most of the road transport, and were also using a considerable part of the rail services, for manoeuvring troops around the country. It was, of course, necessary to maintain some strong forces to keep law and order, and check banditry. Petty war lords did still exist; they might be Nationalist generals now, but they still more or less maintained their own armies. Chiang-Kai-Shek certainly had authority over them, but he did not have them completely under restraint. "Chiang demands that the Communists should disarm, but the Communists are naturally reluctant to do so, fearing what may happep to themselves at the

Nationalists’. hands. I -hink the militarist group in the Nationalist Party and some of the big businessmen seem to be rather keen on opening up civil war. And if it comes I think the Nationalists would eventually win-they have been so well equipped by the Americans. Of course the Communists, too, have received arms in, the past, from the Russians, but that does not seem to be happening now. But the Communists have a small air force, and even parachuté troops. When it comes to fighting, both sides are pretty ruthless towards one another." We mentioned that James Bertram and some other writers on China had expressed the view that Chinese Communism was of a different vintage from So Communism. Did Dr. Dixon support that?

"Yes, I think that is right," he said. "Communism in China seems to me to be mainly a kind of agrarian reform policy. They are Communists in faith, and they have great enthusiasms for their cause, but in practice they are conditioned by the fact that so many of their people are peasant farmers. They allow private

property, for iristance, In fact, Chinese Communism follows more the pattern of Liberalism than anything else. Lack of graft in Communist areas has been a thing that has impressed all observers: they have stamped it out by the drastic méthod of shooting all offenders." It was, however, true that none of the parties was democratic in the sense that

they elected the people in control. "And yet potentially the Chinese are the best democrats in the world; they always talk things over-perhaps, in fact, they spend too long doing it." "Civil War May Come" Returning to the subject of relief, Dr. Dixon said that the supplies which UNRRA had been pouring in were sufficient to have made appreciable differ, ence if they could have reached the places where they were most needed. He had not had personal experience of the real famine areas, such as that round Hunan, but he had the impression that farmers generally were worse off physically than the city dwellers. There were, of course, vast areas which had never seen the Japanese; there the diligent cultivation of the ‘soil went on unchanged. The greatest relief need in China, added Dr. Dixon, was trained personnel, especially those who could speak the language. There were plenty of Chinese who could speak English, but good interpreters were not easy to get. Though he was afraid Civil War might come, it was not likely to come until UNRRA finally withdrew, because both sides wanted UNRRA help, and in the event of real civil war UNRRA could support neither side. There was, of course; civil war of a kind already, but officially there was ce.

From a long-term viewpoint, the most significant factor in China’s future might be some great project like the suggested building of a dam over the upper reaches of the Yangtse. That could produce industrialism on u large scale and change the economic set-up of the country.

By * a DF: DIXON seems to have kept his eyes and ears open while he was in China, for he ‘was there only about ten months. He was one of a British Red Cross team sent. out last September to Shangahi to help deal with the problem of European internees who were released from Japanese camps. From the start they were working in a Chinese hospital; and when the internees were dealt with they switched over to Chinese relief. Then he went to Hangkow where a hospital was opened up. On this project UNRRA, CNRRA (the Chinese branch of UNRRA), the British Red Cross. and

members of the Friends’ Ambulance Unit co-operated. At first they worked alongside the Japanese in the hospital and then took it over entirely. It was a very busy time: there were only three doctors in the hospital, but they dealt with an average of 100 out-patients a day, and had 70 in-patient beds as well. There was not much outside help, not enough nurses; they had to wash sheets, make beds, and indeed do almost everything themselves. There were always more patients than they could cope with. When the day’s work was over, Dr. Dixon would start the generator and do the X-raying-just for relaxation, as he put it. When the time came for the British Red Cross to withdraw (the International Red Cross is carrying on), Dr. Dixon thought he had better try to see something more of the world while he had the chance, before returning to England. New Zealand members of the Friends’ Ambulance Unit with whom he had worked were such good salesmen for this country that he decided to come here for a stay, probably lasting about six months. While here he intends to practise his profession,