Now Advancing On Shanghai— COMMUNISTS TAKE NANKING

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 April 1949, Page 8

Now Advancing On Shanghai— COMMUNISTS TAKE NANKING

SHANGHAI, April 24. Communist troops have occupied Nanking, the capital of Nationalist China, and are rioWnearing Shanghai. The Communists entered Nanking at 3.20 a.m. local time today. Unopposed, they marched through the unguarded north-west gate. They quickly occupied all'key points, including the Government Buildings, banks, and public utility buildings. Only a few casualties, most of them looters, were reported among the city’s population. The Communist troops were reported to have entered Kunshan, 35 miles west of Shanghai, this morning.

“A tour of the western suburbs of Shanghai today showed that the Communists will probably be allowed to walk into the city without a fight, just as they did in Nanking,” says a United Press correspondent. “I went eight miles into the suburbs beyond the city’s western boundary, .where the Communists are likely to make their first appearance, and saw little active preparations for defence. The defences appear inadequate to offer more than token resistance.”

Reuter reports that leading industrialists, after successfully impressing the headquarters of the Shanghai garrison with the fact that a settlement would bo the best way out, communicated with Communist guerrillas and underground elements, and talks are in progress. Unconfirmed reports said that part of the garrison had evacuated the city. The United States authorities in Shanghai announced today that a general evacuation of American citizens from Shanghai had started. Orderly Occupation The swiftly-advancing Communistarmies are meeting almost no resistance as they drive towards Shanghai. The fall of Shanghai—the fourth biggest city in the world—is believed to be only a matter of days. By noon today, the victorious Communist troops in Nanking had taken over key rail and communication facilities, and had set up police squads. Reports from the city say that thousands of Communist troops poured through the west gate in the ancient city wall, The Communist troops seemed to be well disciplined, and so far there have been no incidents. The Communists found the Government Buildings a shambles. Loot.ers had smashed the windows, ripped out the fixtures, and carted away everything movable. The speed and orderliness with which the Communists took over various parts of Nanking indicated that the occupation had been carefully planned. Compared with the wild rioting that occurred yesterday, Nanking today was normal and orderly after the Communists had moved in. ~ , ... The Associated Press said that the Communist troops were preceded into the city by a jeep carrying Communist officers and members of Nanking’s “Peace Preservation Corps.’’ Shanghai today Res in a no-man’s-land, as the spearheads

are striking in three directions to isolate the city. None of the foreign diplomatic missions in Nanking have been evacuated. All have pointed brightly- coloured flags of their countries on the walls surrounding their buildings. Looting mobs have respected these flags. Orders issued by the Communists in Nanking say that private industrial and commercial property will be protected, but that “bureacratic capital belonging to Marshal Chiang Kai-shek and his colleagues will be confiscated.” Orders have been given to the editor of the Nationalist newspaper, the Central Daily News, that he can continue publishing but must rename his newspaper. Other newspapers can continue publishing, but they must print only the dispatches of the Communist News Agency. The United Press correspondent in Shanghai says: “The question that foreign officials are asking is, ‘Where is Marshal Chiang Kai-shek?’ Some newspapers said he came to Shanghai today and later left for either Amoy or Kuangsu.” Flight to Canton The Chinese Prime Minister (General Ho Ying-chin) left Shanghai this afternoon by aeroplane for Canton. The Government today began ferrying officials to Canton by air. General Ho has been acting concurrently as Defence Minister und Commander-in-Chief. He will periodically visit important strategic centres and undertake active control of the Nationalist resistance “to the bitter end” in Southern China. About 300,000 refugees today streamed into Shanghai. Subsequently, the garrison authorities imposed a blockade, prohibiting the entry of refugees. Shanghai has been placed under military control. An official announcement says that the British authorities in Shanghai have worked out a scheme . for evacuating the 4909 British subjects should the need arise. The strictest curfew has been imposed on Shanghai tonight, the city is superficially calm, but below, all is tense as the Communists approach. Many foreigners feel trapped because they believe that the presence of foreign warships is no longer synonymous with the protection afforded before the attack on British warships on the Yangtse last week.