CHINA OF TO-DAY

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 June 1927, Page 4

CHINA OF TO-DAY

“NOT GOING TO THE DOGS.” An eloquent speech on the troubles and difficulties of modern China .was delivered by Professor K. L. Kwong at. a welcome tendered the visiting Chinese University football team by the Metropolitan Soccer Football Association in Sydney recently. Professor Kwong, who is the manager of the team, is a professor at the Chi-Tse University, and a lecturer at the Shanghai College of Commerce. Professor Kwong, speaking of cur-' rent, affairs in China, said>—“China is not the hopeless country you may think. I cannot think of any country that is progressing so quickly. This is a. bright, omen, as we are developing in all spheres. Wo. have questioned ourselves as to the values of our old customs and of the customs of other countries. Could this be changed, we said, and would it benefit us? Fifteen years ago we found we had better value in establishing a republic. And out of the apparent chaos we reckon we are developing. “Au. analysis of Hie whole question shows that, the position is not hopeless. For 4000 years'we had an absolute monarchy, and then, overnight, China, is purged. It was an astonishing feat. The country is much larger than Australia, and has a quarter of the population of the world. It was therefore impossible to turn into a republic without chaos. This happened 15 years ago—a short time from an historical standpoint: but to-day our country is going ahead, and we have a great future. We have studied the history of Italy, its rise and fall and to-day we see that the indomitable spirit of the young men who are thinking of the past glories of that empire has again made that nation respected.

“We in China had the highest form of civilisation thousands of years ago, when your forefathers roamed the wilds' of Europe. Like the Italians, our young men are now studying the past glories of our land. Whether this is a good thing, we cannot say, but the student is the most potent force in China, to-day. And one of the results of this has been the change of Chinese people as a whole. The Confucian code looks back comparing past values. The code lacked variety, but now we are looking forward, and we feel sure that great good will come of.it. “The labour movement has made rapid progress, and to-day the labourers are developing group-conscious-ness, which will tend to develop themselves and China as a. whole. Tn 15 years the literacy of the masses has increased from 1 per cent, to 15 per cent. Trade and railways have increased at a marvellous rate. ■ China is not going to the dogs, it is only the political and military factions that are in a state of chaos.”