CHIANG APPEALS TO CHINESE TO FIGHT COMMUNIST REBELS

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 October 1947, Page 5

CHIANG APPEALS TO CHINESE TO FIGHT COMMUNIST REBELS

NANKING, Oct. 10

“We will not lightly yield one single inch of Manchurian territory to the rebels,” said Marshal Chiang Kai-shek today. He had just returned from an inspection trip in Manchuria to lake part in the national holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Chinese Republic. He urged the people to discard bad habits, laxity and extravagance. ’“The salvation or ruin of our nation depends entirely on our efforts today,” he added. Marshal Chiang issued a statement last night, appealing to the nation to co-operate with the Government in combating the Communists’ onslaught against the Nanking • regime. Fie said: “The insidious and treacherous acts of the Communists have reached new extremes in ferocity and ruthlessness. Although the Communist rebels have been defeated in the Shantung Peninsula, the slightest neglect on the part of the Government troops or administrative officials will give them a chance to become active again. At any moment they may instigate riots in villages or strikes in cities. “Their treacherous acts can be forestalled only if the Government and people work together with determination to complete our task of quelling the rebellion and rebuilding the country.” Marshal Chiang added that the Communists were seeking the “total despoliation of China’s territorial sovereignty” in Manchuria. Meanwhile, the Communist radio in North Shenhi broadcast a statement by the comamnder-in-chief of the Red Army (General Chu Teh) declaring that the Communist programme called for the arrest, trial, and punishment of Marshal Chiang i on a charge of being the “chief civil war criminal.”