RICE FOR THE BOWLS OF ASIA

Evening Star, Issue 24079, 27 December 1941, Page 9

RICE FOR THE BOWLS OF ASIA

PERIL IN TOKYO CONTROL It used to be “rice for the bowls of China.” Now it is “ rice for uio bowls of Asia.” Is there going to no enough of it iu the nest year? Or has the Japanese occupation of rice-grow-iug parte of China, and its control over Indo-China, so disrupted production and distribution that there will be a famine? asks a writer in the ‘Christian Science Monitor’). In the coast cities, noticeably Shanghai, the situation is acute. There is ample rice grown within a few miles of the city, but the Japanese have been appropriating this source of supply, either to send home, where there hare been poor crops, or for their troops in China. The result is that there is little left over for Shanghai. Ai\d what there is has'to go through such a process of taxing that it is hopelessly expensive by the time it reaches the Shanghai market. Add to this a certain amount of profiteering by Chinese rice merchants, and now rice is SOO per cent, above - pre-war levels. Shanghai has for some time been living on imported rice, mostly from Indo-China. In 1940, out of a total of 432.225 tons ‘ shipped to Shanghai ' from all sources, 392,225 tons were from foreign countries, and only 40,000 from China. Now., with Japanese infiltration into Indo-China, this source is, menaced. During the past month Shanghai has drawn reserves from Hongkong, but, that cannot continue, as Hongkong itself needs to store food for a possible emergency. PEASANT SABOTAGE, In the country areas in Occupied China the situation is not so desperate. The Japanese are having enough trouble with guerrilla warfare as it is. Therefore, they are not pushing the peasants to the point of literal starva-, tion, which would make for real up-; risings. The Chinese farmer has just enough left, by the time the Japanese are through, with him, _to_ keep going. The result is that he is indulging iu quiet sabotage, that is, he plants as little as possible. This, again, cuts down possible supplies to the cities. The real cause ot all the trouble is said to be Japanese infiltration into Indo-China. The_ French colony in the past was the rice -reservoir for the Far East in case of emergency. In flood, famine, and civil wars China could draw upon some of the 6,000,000 tons produced in that country. Now, the Japanese control ludo-Chma exports. This affects not only the coast cities of China, but the South Pacific as well —principally Malaya. The annua! consumption is between 800,000 and 1,000,000 tons, of which two-thirds are imported. There is an added difficulty in that polished rice, that which is readv to eat, does not keep in tne tropics, so only unprocessed rice can he stored for emergencies. In Malaya this is not possible, because there is only one large rice mill for processing purposes. THAILAND CROP POOR. Most of Malaya’s supply came from Burma and Siam, but a considerable part of it also from Indo-China. With the Japanese firmly entrenched there, Malaya cannot count on securing any rice from this source. In Thailand (Siam), the rice crop for the year is not good. Usually, Thailand has 1,600,000 tons for export, but this year there are only 900,000. During the first three months of the season, 400,000 was exported, and the demand for Siamese rice is far more than the remaining 500,000. Furthermore, in the past, Japan has taken fourth place among buyers of Siamese rice; Singapore. Hongkong, and the West Indies preceding it. Now, it is estimated that this year Japan, if not first, certainly will run Singapore a close second. Burma, reports a bumper crop this season, but the shortage of ships is a problem, and likely to become a larger one. It is estimated that there is going to be a shortage of 4,000,000 tons throughout the Orient. PHILIPPINE NEEDS. Nor are the Philippines exempt front rice troubles, created by the Japanese infiltration in the south. In 1940, the Philippines imported 20,000 tons from Thailand, and 9,900 from Indo-China. It is questionable whether these exports will he available now. In short, the Japanese have dislocated completely the rice distribution scheme of the Orient, with the exoeption of the Netherlands East Indies, which is self-sufficient, and in Free China. Free China has its own rice problems,but they are not attributable to theJapanese. Free China’s troubles are due to. transportation difficulties, lack of labour, provincial merchants refusing to heed the Central Government, and over-population. Principally the latter. West China has its.own population, plus all the new government and business arrivals, plus the entire Chinese army. The Government is making strenuous efforts to control the situation, and the problem probably is capable of solution, if carefully handled. But the other rice shortage is susceptible of solution only if the Japanese choose to solve it.