Evening Post. MONDAY, DECEMBER 20. 1937. A HALT IN CHINA?

Evening Post, Volume cxxiv, Issue 148, 20 December 1937, Page 10

Evening Post. MONDAY, DECEMBER 20. 1937. A HALT IN CHINA?

For a time at least it is possible that there may be a lull in the storm of hostilities through which China has been passing since June last. Certain circumstances and one or two events are combining to delay a further Japanese advance in the main theatres of the undeclared war. Tlje most important circumstance is winter, which in Northern and Central China is severe and must inevitably slow down military operations. It is probable that the Japanese, who opened their campaign in the North at the height of the summer, are not yet properly equipped to meet the rigorous climatic conditions that must now be prevailing in the territory within the arm of the Yellow River and that along the Yangtzekiang. There is also the fact (pointed out in this column on Friday) that the invasion has reached a stage where it is possible and, perhaps, necessary to call a halt to consider the next move. Strategically the invaders would seem to be well entrenched in the country they have occupied, if not conquered, north and east of.the Yellow River, and with the capture of the Kuomintang capital, Nanking, they should be securely based in the lower reaches of the Yangtze out to sea near Shanghai. Thus, so to speak, they have already bitten off a fairly large piece of China and may chew upon this before proceeding further. In the far south of China, however, the climate is much milder, and the cable news today makes it clear that an attack on Canton is expected from the expedition, which has already landed some.of its forces near the Portuguese colony of Macao and Bias Bay, the famous pirate stronghold. Canton has always been the centre of the most fervidly national sentiment in China and Canton unconquered might well be feared by Japan as the birthplace of a resurgent China.

The principal event which may combine with the foregoing circumstances to give pause to the Japanese military heads in their lust for conquest is, of course, the Panay affair. The people of America ' are thoroughly roused by the bombing and sinking of the U.S. gunboat Panay and. the machine-gunning of the boats with the survivors by Japanese assailants. President Roosevelt's policy of going over the heads of the Japanese Civilian Government to the one man, the Emperor of Japan, to whom the military chiefs are responsible, may well cause the war party to "step off the gas" and put the brakes on the chariot of Mars. Japan cannot contemplate with equanimity any external trouble, on top of the war in China, at the present time. There is no talk in America of going to war, but the United States i3 in a position to exert a most .effective pressure where it will be felt by Japan without pushing the matter^ to the ultimate sanction. The co-operation of the United States and Britain is one of the most hopeful indications of a.'world movement against unlimited tolerance of wars of aggression. The result of the combined influences of circumstances and events is to be seen by a cable message today which reports from Tokio that "General Matsui in a statement indicated a suspension of hostilities to allow the Chinese to reconsider their attitude." A later message from Tokio gives the text of General Matsui's statement:

As it is becoming colder and because the end of the year is fast approaching, I am inclined to give time to both sides. This \yill allow the Chinese troops and people to reconsider their attitude, while enabling the Imperial troops to reorganise and perfect their povVers.

General Matsui admitted that his army, after four months of ceaseless warfare, was greatly fatigued. Future operations depended .on General Chiang Kai-shek. "I am rather sympathetic over the enormous losses of Chinese troops and people," he said, "and hope the day will come when the National Government will reconsider its attitude. It would be a matter for regret if the Japanese forces were obliged to advance until the Chinese Government surrendered."

The reader will note ortce more in General Matsui's statement the queer mixture of ingenuity and ingenuousness that has characterised a variety of' Japanese official utterances since the outbreak of the trouble in China and on the occasion of the numerous "incidents" of which the Powers whose nationals have suffered have complained. This is not to say that such disarming simplicity reveals any suggestion of disarmament by the Japanese themselves. It is more like a pause before another jump. And so the outflow of profuse apologies from Tokio continues. The latest instance, just to hand, slates that at WashingI ton

the Japanese Ambassador, Admiral Saito, made an unprecedented public apology over the radio. He deplored «*« Panay bombing as "a shocking

blunder" and said that the naval officer responsible had been dismissed and recalled home.

While this may be an admission very mortifying and humiliating for the representative of Japan to make, it is highly doubtful whether it will satisfy the American President and the American people. Whether the i Panay affair was "a shocking blunder" or a premeditated crime is yet uncertain, but, in any event, the frankest apology is not enough. It is not in accordance with the accepted code of ethics that pleading guilty should enable the offender to escape paying the penalty for the offence. If the President and people are firm, they should yet compel Japan to make amends, so far as" amends can be made, through the mouth of the sacrosanct Emperor himself. In the meantime the Chinese show no signs of accepting the defeats they have sustained as the final verdict in the war forced upon them. Whatever may have been their failures in the field—and they have been many and great in the face of overwhelming odds in the equipment for war —they have in the face of disaster preserved a dignity • and fortitude wholly admirable by contrast with their adversaries. From Hankow, far up'the Yangtze beyond Nanking, General Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese leader in resistance to the invader, has issued a call to the Chinese nation in these memorable terms:

China will live as long as the spirit of the Chinese Revolution' exists. If we submit, our spirit will be broken, plunging us into an inextricable abyss. Let us bear the sacrifices, great as they are, for the sake of the nation and posterity.

History has shown over and over again that the nation that shows this spirit can suffer many blows and lose many battles, but cannot be conquered. The will to endure and fiwht on is found to win in the end.