AWAKENING OF CHINA

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 220, 11 June 1920, Page 7

AWAKENING OF CHINA

OPPOSITION TO FOREIGN 'INROADS NATIONAL MOVEMENT Publio opinion in China is unanimoi e- in its thorough and absolute resistance 1 it nil further inroads on the part of fo: >'d eign Powers, said Dr. P. S. Seinsch, fo: io iner Minister to China, at a luncheon t id New York of the League of Free Nationi r- Association, at which "the awakening c s, China" was discussed. :'a "There has been a national movemen h in China for some time," said D r . Heinsch, "but only within tho last yep jf has it become a strong, well-defined, ive] c . organised, popular movement, due to th 5. impetus given'by the Shantung decisioi " e wliiich .profoundly affected the Chines it people. The' essential thing about th v. Shantung matter is the railroad eituatioi [l Tho return of about 50 square miles o |. territory would be immaterial if tlier e wero no means of connection with port a and other parts of the country. Th n Ohiineso want tho railroad passing througl j the Shantung territory to be a part o their national system; they do not wan . it controlled by a foreign Government I feel that unless somo arrangement cai j be made for this road to bocome a par of the Chinese national railroad system,,i ' will be a permanent source of irritatioi 0 and friction- which will disturb relationi ? Ifetween Ohiha and Japan." . It was the students who first organ ; ised in revolt against the deoision of th l l'eace Conference which was such a tie inendous blow to China. With then 5 joined the merohiants, who, for the firsl ® time in history, reoognised the necessity ' of joining in national affairs. Dr. Reinscl; ' explained. Together, the students and 1 boards of trade joined in a movemenl 1 not! of hostility, but of protest againsl .Tapan, reinforced by strikes and boycotts ®. They domandcd and effeoted the dismissal 1 of three Government officials believed tc ' have oonnived withl or yielded supinely to ■ impair The merchants simply closed • fiie'lr phonn. according to the old Chinese 1 method ofnicrtia, and sat down to await ' events. But this boycott, which was negative and non-punishable, because no one ■ could force individualfto buy, was mere)r a starting point. They realised that thoy themsolves were to blame, becauso tiicv ?iSJt not talcen more interest m their Government., The result was, however, a perfectly natural and enthusiastic development of home Industries. . In this connection Dr. Reinsert aposo of the many cotton mills being established throughout China/ and said that one American firm alone had sold £5,000,000 worth of cotton machinery m that coun'"China is one of the most democratic nations in the world," Dr. Beinsdh. continued, "and has a strong feelmg for equitv, allowing no act of injustice to go unrcprimandcd. One of the difficulties in which she .finds herself at present w how to preserve tho virtue of tho old, svstem of personal contact in government and adapt it to a modern system. The universities are the nuclei of national lifo, students feci themselves not provincial, but Chinese. Thiis is the time. I feel for educational and economic development, -rather than political, and the time to spread education throughout {ill clftsscfl/' Mr. P. C. Chang, secretary, of the Chinese Education Commission touring Amerioa, said the commission felt that through education alone the new day would come, but that new inspiration must bo conneoted with th'o old tradition, that Progress must 6Pringi out of China's own experience and thought, The history of modern China must be written according to her literary revolutions. A literary revolution waa going on at present, and the literati wero writing of everyday experiences in terms of everyday life, that is, in the vernacular, so that all who could read oould also understand. TUis indicated tho willingness of tho educated clasj to try to pull the masses up. Not only is there an innovation in the style of writing, but in the, ideas presented; new ideas bein? fostered and old onos revived. And the young liberals of China are writing letters to j-oung Liberals of Japan, ho said, odvislrg them to try to help their Governin ont. lir. Chang said in reply to a question that public opinion in China was decidedly back of the proposed four-power loan, and that, if it were successful, it would would bo the greatest help toward China's political freedom. Howevor, they did not want loans for political purposes, but only for use in the nationalisation of their railroads and in tho extension of education and industry. China was also eager to get control of her Customs and tariffs, and to free herself from the domination of the .military Party. Dr. Yamei Kin, the first Chinese woman to receive a degree from an American university, speaking of the China silk, and tea which ner country had givon the world lately, called attention to tho foot that in return China had been givon opium, that it had been forced upon her, although there wero laws in China imposing capital punishment upon tlhoso who produced it thevro. She said that two years ago 21 tons of morphia were imported l into Shantung by Japan. She urged that tho United States help put down the traffio in opium. "The only way to etop tho consumption of nnrcoiio| is to take thorn out of the world," sh^