A COUNTER-REVOLUTION IN CHINA.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1787, 27 June 1913, Page 6

A COUNTER-REVOLUTION IN CHINA.

A very critical situation has arisen in China. Parliament has rejected the Budget, which reveals an enormous deficit, and Yuan Shih-Kai (the President) is endeavouring _ to create a counter-revolution by going back to the old Chinese nationalism, and to stir up a revival of Confucianism to counteract the increasing influence, of Christianity. There have been many indications of late that serious-, trouble is'in store for the new Republic. The proceedings of Parliament have been marked by great dissensions, and the President has shown on more than one occasion that he is out of sympathy with the ideals of tho progressive party. Two great sections are now contending for the control of the State, namely, the Kuomintang, or Nationalists, led by Dr. Sun Yat Sen, and the Cbinputang, who support tho President. The latter are supposed to be able to command a slight majority in the Assembly. . The murder of Sung Chiao-jen, a month or two ago, caused a great, outburst of feeling j against the President, as is shown by tho following extract from an | article in one of the Chinese papers: j

Yuan Shih-Kai, the traitor, is not satisfied. with the-murder.oE one Mr. Sung. He wants to kill our good peoplo openly. Ho has spread his claws and: his teeth (i.e., .his adherents) everywhere. Ho has summoned and assembled the army with the apparent look that "whoever obeys me may live, and wlioevor resists me must die." Our • citizens, if you do not wish to be the kneeling slaves of autocracy, act for yourselves quickly. The great- question is whether tho President or Parliament is to _ provail, and some people are convinced that the country is drifting towards a dictatorship under Yuan ShihKai, who knows his fellow countrymen better than any of his opponents. Ho has had great experience in statecraft, and has gone through many a crisis. Ho iB extremely astute, and no ono appeals to know exactly what is at the back of his mind. The bitterness of party disputes has caused a number of members of Parliament to cut themselves adrift from the two main sections, and to take up an independent position which has added to the confusion, and the Peking correspondent of the Morning Post is of opinion that unless the present madness soon subsides it cannot be long before true patriots exclaim: In seasons of great peril "Ks good that one bear sway! Then choose wo a Dictator' Whom all men shall obey. There is a suspicion in many minds that the President's ultimate aim is to become Emperor, and the developments recorded yesterday in our cable columns show that this fear is not entirely without justification.