CHINA’S CIVIL WAR

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 82, 31 December 1926, Page 9

CHINA’S CIVIL WAR

BATTLE FOR SHANGHAI IMMINENT' CANTONESE BUSY WITH I (OPAGANDA SUN STRIPPED OF LARGE PORTION OF ARMY There arc indications that a battle for the possession of Shanghai is imminent. The Cantonese have been busy with propaganda among the Chekiang soldiery, and have succeeded in stripping Sun ChuanFang, Governor of' Shanghai, of a considerable portion of his army.

By Telegraph.-press association. i CoPTBIGHt. | Shanghai, December 29. Refugees are pouring into Shanghai from Hang-Chow, the capital of the;' Chekiang Province, distant from Shanghai a hundred miles, indicating <1 that the Cantonese bid for the pos- ' session of Shanghai is imminent. During. the past fortnight the Cantonese I have - been busy* with propaganda among the Chekiang soldiery, and have succeeded in causing the latter to declare their independence of Sun ChuanFang, Governor of Shanghai, who i# : thus stripped of a considerable por- I tion of his army. * The remainder, numbering 20,000, is suspected of dis-' lovaltv. '■ * 1

Telegraphic communication, between Shanghai and Hang-Chow is interrupted, but fighting is reported between Sun’s forces and the Chekiangites, who are virtually Red. The Shantung i army, at present stationed at Nan- . king, the Yangtse railway terminus, which is expected-to rush to Shanghai ,i to prevent the entry of the Cantonese, is not expected to move, according to private information, which states that one of Sun Chuan-Fang’s subordinates, stationed midway on the railway, and commanding a sizeable force, threatens to prevent the advance of the i Shantungese as the result of a long- , standing grudge, the outcome of a former inter-provincial war. Shanghai’s chief concern is now probable disorders and lootings at the hands of Sun Chuan-Fang’s undisciplined troops retreating from the Cantonese. Much anxiety is felt by met- i chants, shopkeepers, and outside set- ' tlements.

H.M.S. Enterprise, from the Mediterranean, is due at Shanghai on Saturday. Foreign vessels in the Yangtse gorges are again subjected to attacks from the banks, which are occupied by leaderless troops. Up-river services are- suspended.

THE BRITISH MEMORANDUM ATTITUDE OF OTHER POWERS • i London, December *29. Although the Government has not yet received official replies in regard . to the British memorandum to China, I it is semi-officially stated that the memorandum is acceptable to Italy, Belgium, and the United States, while France maintains an attitude of reserve, and Japan is inclined to be critical. All the Chinese parties, though not enthusiastic, are likely to accept the memorandum, particularly the proposals relating to the immediate imposition of the Washington surtaxes.