CHINA TO-DAY

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 48, 25 August 1925, Page 6

CHINA TO-DAY

CHIEF CAUSES OF UNREST

RESPECT FOR THE FOREIGNER

WANING,

, Because a country may at present be backward we are apt to forget its existence. Such has been, the case with China, and unless the British and European civilisation in general watch the movements going on in the East, it will be found that we. have drifted into trouble, writes R.H.N. in the Melbourne " Argus." Should it happen that the whole of China were suddenly to awaken and to change as did Japan, think what it would mean. As it is our safety lies in the vastness of the country, and' in the fact that a Chinese is still one of the " unchanging East." Their manner of life is much the same as it was 2000 years ago and more. Another people would have degenerated. ■ They meve neither forward nor backward. It ft Ilows then that even if the seaport towns should become affected by foreign influence,- or should- a governor try to enforce modern ideas, little change would be effected over the mass. TheVe is another point. Should a Chinese conceive the idea that lie has been wronged he can be pretty sure of; having' the whole nation at his back if ho makes a fuss. They are the biggest union Yon the face of the earth. As a people, they will be found to be very mannerly, peace-loving, and law-abiding. When fully taken into one's confidence they are unswerving. Until recently'since the' country was opened to trade, the foreigner has been respected. Lately with certain sections that respect lias been waning. A few causes are here enumerated in ascending order of merit: (1) Post cards are usually of the > nude girl type. Movjnj pictures are as» suggestive as possible, and this .kind of thing tendn to' make the foreigners cheap. (2) The Chinese are. treated by many ns good servants. Recently Mr. C. C. Wu, a fairly influential nian in the CantoneSo Government, made a statement to the effect that "the Russians held positions in the army, etc., because they treated the Chinese'as equals." Others are looked on as coming in to teach them, to convert them; or to trade, advahtagcously. (3) The students have a deep spirit for nationalism. Their cry is "China for the Chinese,", but usually they get no further than talk, agitation, fnd processions. Nationalism in itself is good, but here it is greatly misdirected. (4) There is little doubt that the present trouble, is the work of Bolsheviks, directed firstly against -the British. It was rumoured that the Chinese thought that if they declared a strike against the British the Americans would side, with them (i.e., the Chinese). The anti-foreign strike was declared statedly in sympathy with Shanghai, but it was much more than that. The students everywhere in Canton were greatly; in sympathy with the students of Shanghai, and to my^ knowledge" every school in Canton, with the exception of Holy Trinity College, sent telegrams of sympathy. This feeling on the part of the students was fanned and worked upon directly by the Cantonese Government, with which 40 Russians, it is reported, are connected in some way or another. (s)'The Cffinese are not only proud of, but actually worship their ancestry. They are a very ancient people, and have many pages of glorious history. Naturally ,_ they are conceited about it, and nothing galls them more than the thought of foreign concessions and treaty ports. There are to be seen people. who refuse to live among them, who collect taxes from them, who govern themselves, and openly distrust Chinese justice and protection, and who possess large and beautiful residences. The Russians live among them more. The Germans, too, have, as a result of the Great War, no part in the treaty concessions, and tho Chinese liavo little quarel with them. In fact, some families in Tung Shan, who had to leave their homes, invit,ed Germans to stay in the houses to be caretakers. ' ' ' ■ '

• There is no soitled Government, and no safety except'under the fear of foreign might. They are losing that fear now that they are copying modern ways in warfare. Justice goes to the highest bidder. Squeezing, corruption, bribery, etc., are accepted orders of the day. It is very deep-rooted, and. seems to havo been'so for centuries. The trouble certainly is not a Labour movement of the lower class, with the intention of freeing themselves. One Chinese can live on three or four cents a day (less than a penny). The British give about 20 times that amount to the lowest type of worker, and give it regularly. The Chinese Government makes promises of largo sums and gives little or none. On the Monday before the attack on Sharaeen a friend and I were in the city for the best part of the day shopping and walking about. No notice was taken of us whatever. Certainly we were not jeered at. But every here and there on the steps of doorways could be seen Chinese soldiers talking excitedly, and agitating for trouble, and these, remember, are officered by Russians. The people did not want the strike, and the students were made use. of._ It seems that the strike in Hong Kong is breaking down, and after it will follow a settlement on Shameen. But anything in the nature of real and settled peace is hopeless until the Chinese realise that the' remedy is to be found within their own ranks. Many of the better educated are already realising this, but little, will be able to bo done until a. very strong man takes charge oE affairs and keeps the many military factions in check.