“KUO MIN TANG”

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 234, 29 June 1922, Page 4

“KUO MIN TANG”

THE NEW CHINA PROMINENT NATIONALIST IN AUCKLAND To the average man in the street tho present struggle in China _ presents all the intricacies bf _a Chinese puzzle, bub to Chan On Yan, newspaper man and author, and personal representative of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the founder of the Republic, China is a living and throbbing reality, a land of possibilities and actualities states the “Auckland Star.” No longer a people living in the past. A people with a future. Mr. Ohan arrived in Auckland last week on a mission to his countrymen as the special representative of the Kuo Min Tang, as the Nationalist party is known among the sons of the Flowery Land. The present struggle between- North cndaSouth, is to him a mighty drama played on one of the oldest stag.es in the world, destined to play its part in regeneration of his people. The solution of this intricate Chinese puzzle without doubt is vague, or even more so than Sir. Chan confessed, but the aim of his party .is quite clear —autonomy and industrial and political freedom for the Chinese' people. • . Smart, dapper, with . penetrating dark eyes, and wonderfully expressive hands, Mr. Chang gives one the impression of a successful Japanese official rather than the ambassador of the revolutionary South. Although a graduate of the Hong-Kong and Canton Universities, formerly an editor of newspapers in both cities and also Singapore, and the author of several economic and social works relating to his people, Mr. Chan On. lan can speak very little English, so the> services of a fellow countryman had to he requisitioned. The Chines,e Republic has been an establish fact, more or less, for the past eleven years. The prime mover has been Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the present leader of the Southern party, whose headquarters are at . Canton, and to whom the vast x majority of Chinese in America, Australasia, and the Pacific Islands owe their allegiance. Many years ago Chan On Yan wnjj a member of a' secret society in Hong-Kong,' working with Dr. bun and others for the establishment of a Republic. On May 5, 1920, Sun was elected to the presidency on the retirement, probably compulsorily, of Chu Shi. Chang, owing to the unpopularity of the latter, due to his Japanese inclinations.. His fellowcountrymen accused him of pledging the vast resources of the nation .o the emissaries of the Mikado. The Chinaman does not love, the Jan.. He regards him with suspicion. This is the attitude of tho . Nationalist party. Since then the situation has developed into a fracas between the North and South. Alm of tho South. “The aim of the South is the establishment of a new Parliament, and the recognition of Dr. Sun Yat Sen as president,” said Chan On Ya.n. ‘’The Southern party is supported bv seven provinces. There are twentvtwo provinces in all. out of which three actively support the North. The rest are independent. You can see the situation • if the South is successful, they will throw their influence in with them; if not the North will secure their support. Vast numbers of the people are neutral, and are taking neither side. . For eleven years we have been trying to. get• a stable Government, and that is still the aim of the Kuo Min I’ang. He incidentally mentioned that three to four million supporters of the old Manchu dynasty are taking no part in the struggle, although many of them now regard the Nationalist doctrines with favour. . The Manchu princes were living in luxury /n Peking, apparently talcing little interest‘in the imnasse. I Bolshevik emissaries found tnat China did not tpke kindly to their doctrines. He believed that was one of the reasons why they had_ concentrated their attention upon India. ■The Chinese were not responsive to Bolshevism. ' , Education is one of the foremost planks in the platform of the Kuo Min Tang. For a number of years Mr. Chang was an in spec tor ci • Chinese schools in the Straits Settlements, while in Hong-Kong and Canton ho had considerable experience in tho schools. It was only by these means, he said, that China could be rehabilitated .and again become a progressive nation. Sun Yat Sen.

“Sun Yat Sen is a man of great experience,” he continued. He is a Christian, and it was . through his earlv contact with mission work that he became imbued with ideas for the regeneration and uplifting of his people. For thirty years he has worked for Chinn, in America, in England, in France, and in manv lands ns scouted the idea that Sun would lean towards America if he were ijstabfished in the Government. England would receive the same consideration, as her work in the East was ed- with approval, particularly by the Chinese living under the British flfl “We must have equality,” said Chan On Yan with an expressive wave of a carefully manicured hand. “We must have progress. If China is to obtain her. proper place in trade and commerce she must be ea ”? rn in her ideas and methods. The Kuo Min Tang is a political party for the social uplifting of China, and to achieve th’s we must reorganise her commercially. Also our schools!, our roads, our progress generally must be on Western lines. “Southern China was not re J? re ‘ senterl at 'Washington, and for that reason her aims and aspirations were not put forth,” he replied, in answer to a a nestion. “We believe that Dr. Kee did his best. or. at least what he could do under the circumstances, but fhewe is little doubt that he did not make tho best of the deal. for Japanese delegates. He was guided by Japanese, interests. He was no., supported bv both parties in China. The Northern Government was influenced also by Japan a potion that was much resented by a section of Chinese, and by the Kuo Min Tang in particular. . The , C rM- S ® rlelegntefl had not considered China BS a whole at all but the interest of tho Northern Government Ibe Nationalists considered that the Japanese wore looking for. concessions and Interests in China to which they were not justly entitled. They were regarded with suspicion.