CHINESE CULTURE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 36, 12 February 1938, Page 9

CHINESE CULTURE

WAR INTERVENES

SUPPLIES FROM RUSSIA

A FUTURE CONFLICT?

According to the Rev. G. W. Shep•pard, who has seen service as missioner in churches in China for 38 years, and has been secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society in China for 15 years, Japanese aggression will have a consolidating effect on the Chinese nation. With his accumulated knowledge, \he sees the greatest danger of the moment in Japan's control of the maritime provinces of China, which may force her to obtain supplies of all kinds from Russian sources, with the possibility of a Russo-Japanese war with China as the battlefield. Mr. Sheppard left China a year ago, and during the last year he has relieved the Rev. A. T. Thompson as acting Commonwealth secretary for the Bible Society. Mr. Sheppard's interests in China have been chiefly those connected with Christian missions, but his office of secretary to the Bible Society brought him into touch with all departments of life, and with movements of very varied character. "One naturally takes a deep interest in the cultural developments of a country like China," he said to a "Post" reporter, "and then I have been for many years editor of the Royal Asiatic Society's journal there. The society has branches in all Asiatic countries, including India and Japan, but the journal I was connected with was that of China. The society endeavours to collect all authentic information regarding past and present developments. During my years in Shanghai I have been chairman of the Board of Education for the Shanghai Municipal Council, and have had the privilege of developing the system of education which has been the model on which the national system has since been fashioned. SPREAD OF EDUCATION. ' "During the past ten years one _of the important developments in China has been the spreading of education. Whereas fifteen years ago there were about 2,000,000 children in primary schools in the whole country, in 1036 there were 22,000,000. In. 1917 there were four universities in China, now there are 84, and 29 technical colleges. Some of these organisations are in "rather a nebulous stage, but they, are maturing so rapidly that they are already contributing much to the new national life. This is only one illustradon of the remarkable reconstructive work which has been in progress during the past decade. "The revolution which took place in China 26 years ago, when the Imperial dynasty was replaced by the Republican constitution, seemed at first to plunge the country into chaos, and for the first half of the time which has since elapsed, it seemed as though China were disintegrating, but even during that period the preparations for national reconstruction were proceeding. A new type of leader was arising. The masses of the people were developing a sense of national responsibility, --nd China was proving that her choice of a democratic system was no childish imitation of Western legislation, but something which harmonised with her national genius. Less than a year ago •ill reports of China indicated that the nation was on the highway to peace and prosperity, but the avalanche which has come during the past few months is altering the whole face of the land and none dare prophesy what (he immediate future may be. Already the invasion has so quickened the unification of China and intensified the sense of the importance of internal solidarity, that whatever may be the losses sustained on the battlefield, the strength and vigour of the nation has oeen greatly added to. CHIANG KAI-SHEK'S. PART. "China owes much to the character and ability of her present leader Chiang Kai-shek. His work as a statesman and administrator had already won for him the confidence of the nation. His restraint in seeking to avoid the conflict with Japan sorely tried the more youthful and ardent patriots. He foresaw the inevitable military defeat, and hoped against hope that peaceful negotiations might have prevented the conflict, but there were limits beyond which no loyal Chinese could yield, and when the end was reached Chiang Kaishek proved himself to be the leader to lead the nation through the inevitable period of sacrifice and loss. He is an earnest Christian, and his .faith in the future of iiis nation is founded in his conviction that the power of God will achieve more than any human instruments or organisations. General Chiang Kai-shek has laboured, for the moral regeneration of China as well as its political unification, and even in the present dark days he has the confidence of the whole nation. ROAD INTO RUSSIA. "The most serious danger of the present situation is lest Japan, having overrun the maritime provinces, and retaining control, should cut off the Chinese Government from supplies from overseas., This might throw them back upon what might be obtained through overland routes from Russia. Already it is reported that a road has been completed by the Chinese from western China into Russia. Seven hundred thousand workmen are said to have been employed in this work, and supplies are already reaching China along that road from Russia. Russia abundant reasons for supporting China against her aggressive neighbour, but it would be a calamity for the distracted land of China if it had to become the battleground on which Japan once again faced the whole of mighty Russia. Conflicting opinions are expressed, even by wellinformed persons on both sides, as to the prospect if such a conflict takes place. Russian military strength is said :o be much greater than under the Tsarist regime, but this has to be tested. Meanwhile Japan is spending her resources on a struggle to crush China, a struggle that may be disastrous for herself." . ■