WITHOUT ENTHUSIASM

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 125, 31 May 1927, Page 9

WITHOUT ENTHUSIASM

CHINESE METHODS IN

WARFARE

interviewed by a representative of the . J°urna]." and gave some interesting t°um^? n concerning the Chinese. The Chinese soldier, he said, whether, he is for the North or the South/makes war without enthusiasm. For him a S eV 8 lif% i8 J a si J? ecu«. *<« he is clothed and fed. Perhaps the armies oi the South are superior, because the democratic ideas left by Sun Vat Sen have created a sort of pride and a sentiment of nationality. It is none the less sure that on both sides there is. hardly any desire to fight. For 2000 years the Chinese have been fighting among themselves, and if the Europeans are now interested it is because they are mixed up in the Chinese family quarrel. The Chinese have sufficient arms to carry on. These arms have been imported surreptitiously. Dr. Wright emphasised the difficulty of negotiating with the Chinese because of the absence of a regular Government Chang Tso-lin assured him (Dr Wright) that he was the only person with sufficient authority to carry on useful negotiation, but the moment any chief shows himself willing to negotiate with foreign Powers he becomes suspect. Japan's distrust of the Soviet, Dr. Wright considers, is the best guarantee that the influence of Bussia is only transitory. Japan would not allow this influence to spread too far North. The Ministry of War states that among the papers seized during the raid on Soviet Legation buildings was a record of the seventh session of the Third Internationale, which dealt exclusively with measures to be taken in China. These included the supplying of money and munitions to the antiImperial militarists, urging the Chinese masses to demand the withdrawal of foreign troops and gunboats, and a campaign of propaganda among the rank and file of the foreign armies and navies. The Ministry further states that it has been discovered that the Embassy employed three Chinese to. report happenings from various Legations, especially the Japanese.