JAPS. HARASSED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 42, 20 February 1933, Page 5

JAPS. HARASSED.

MANCHURIAN TASK.

BIGGER THAN EXPECTED. GRAVE CONDITIONS IN CHINA. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) DUNEDIN, Sunday. A well-known New Zealand missionary in China writes: "There is a good deal of distress in China. In fact, it is a wonder the country keeps going at all, for lawlessness is the order of the day, so that life and property are quite uncertain quantities. Communists continue to make headway, and they have got control of large areas in the country. "Troubles up in Manchuria become • more aggravated as the days go by, and* the Japanese are finding that they have undertaken a bigger task than they bargained for when a year ago they started military action against Chang Hsiieh-liang's regime. Groups of socalled Chinese volunteers are harassing them in a persistent way and there is constant fighting without any result, except to add to the misery of honest citizens.

"In spite of all this lawlessness and wickedness," the writer adds, "missionary work is operating in a wonderful way in various parts of China. One significant experience I may mention is that a young Chinese who obtained the LL.D. degree in America felt the mission call w : iiilst crossing the Pacific to his own country, threw overboard his diplomas and certificates, received appointment as pastor soon after landing, and has commenced Evangelistic work in the North of China. He has just completed a month's mission at Peiping, with the result that multitudes of lives have been completely changed, including those of some foreigners. One evidence of the reality of the work is the fact that large sums of money have been returned to employers by servants and employees who formerly indulged in 'sgueeze.'"