AFFAIRS IN CHINA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 26 July 1924, Page 15

AFFAIRS IN CHINA.

THE POLITICAL TANGLE. A MISSIONARY'S STORY. Alter twenty-nien years of mission service in China the Rev. W. R. Malcolm, brother of the Hon. A. S. Malcolm, has returned to New Zealand, where he hopes to take a quiet charge, after his adventurous years among the Chinese. Mr. Malcolm was at one time minister at the Ormond (Poverty Bay) Presbyterian Church, and from there he went to China, spending seventeen years at Anliusi, Central China, on mission work, and tw.elve years at Chefoo. 500 miles north of Shanghai, where he taught English at the China. Inland Mission High School. Mr. Malcolm is a keen student of people, and he seems to have got as close to the heart of the Chinese as it is possible for a European to get. He has been an observer of events in China over a long period, and the result is that he is able to tell an interesting story about the tangled affairs of a country that has been scourged by war for years. To people in these parts, Chinese politics are as complicated as the Chinese language, and it is interesting to have the position explained by one who does know something about it. STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY. In the first place, said Mr. Malcolm, it must be understood that none of the leaders in China have any patriotic spirit nor are they spurred on in any way by political ideas. All they are concerned about is personal power, and all efforts are made towards that end alone. For the last few years the position ha s . been dominated by two cliques, the Chihli and the Anfu. For a time the Anfu clique was in power, but about two vear s ago the Chihli faction under General U-Pei-Fu won a decisive battle, in which 500,000 were engaged on each side. The losing general went into hiding after his defeat, but he appears to be a fairly active force still. U-Pei-Fu is a great general, but he refuses to take political office. Even without that he is a force, and the President is not able to go directly against him. Although the Anfu general was defeated, his ally, Chang-Tso, the war lord of Manchuria, is still in command of that province, and his position is strong. He is paying his men regulary and obtaining large supplies of good, ammunition and Aeroplanes. Well-informed people believe that a clash between Chang-Tso and U-Pei-Fu is inevitable, and when it, does come Chang will probably be victor. It is said that Chang is in touch with Sun-Yat-Sen, so U-Pei-Fu has to wat-ch Chang in the north and also endeavour to secure himself south of the Yangtse-kiang River against Sun-Yat-Sen THE CONDUCT OF WAR.

There are approximately two million men engaged in a regular war which has been going on for years 3 and which has caused great distress throughout the country. Villages and towns are burnt everjl day, and' thousands of people have been massacred. The war has been conducted in a brutal fashion, and the soldiers are heartless in the treatment of their countrymen. The art of torture has not. been forgotten, and thousands of people are put to. death with, every inhumanity. The whole of China is affected by the struggle, and the fighting i s for the most part conducted on modern lines. When Mr. Malcolm went.to China first he sawsoldiers practising with hows and arrows, but now the latest rifles are used, and scouting is done by aeroplanes. The war is largely to blame for the bandit system, because the soldiers in the defeated army have to lpok after themselves in some way. It is more convenient for them to become attackers than anything else, and in this way they are enabled to get money by looting. Recently a town of 50,000 people was burnt to the ground bv a bandit force. In spite of arms, said Mr. Malcolm, the astute politician is still a great power, but the cliques that have been working fo r thousands of years can put a man up easily, and with the same ease can null him down. The leaders are just seeking power for themselves, oven though they come out l>efore the people with elaborate Western .programmes. DOUBLE DEALING. A little' of the lower American element seems to have crept into Chinese politics if the following story is to be believed. It was said that the. late President, desirous of election, made a present of 250 dollars to each member of the Parliament so that his election would be assured, and the silver tokens were readily accepted. Between eighty and one hundred of the bought men accepted the invitation of another candidate and paid a visit to him, and they received iiberal treatment from him, but it was not quite liberal enough. SUN-YAT-SEN. Sun-yat-sen, self-styled President of the Chinese Republic, was described bv Mr. Malcolm as a man with a wonderful power of fascinating men. He was a genius at- starting rebellions, and he could get his followers to commit themselves to' almost anything. He could only carry his work up to a certain point, for once' he got into power he was weak. He was quite unable to take advantage of the positions he was able to obtain. He lives in Canton, in a house on the hanks of the Canton River. A gunboat stands outside always ready to take him into hiding if necessary, and, in addition to this he has his own aeroplane and seaplane. Periodically it is necessary for him to take refuge, but he always manages to find his way back again. A MODERN CROMWELL. Feng-yu-hsiang, the Christian general, was described by Mr. Malcolm as the Cromwell of to-day. He has a model army of 35,(XX) under his command. and of these 20,000 are baptised. For discipline the world has never seen the equal of this little army, and not one of the men in it smokes. There is no swearing among them, and when the army comes to a city the low women are given notice to leave as quickly as they can. The soldiers are all taught good trades, so toat they have something to fall back on when they are too old for sendee. Feng is a great, soldier, and he has taken the side of the President Tsau in a noncommittal way. His armv has to be considered by the other parties. He is a charming man to meet, and recently he was chosen as a delegate to the Pan-Methodist Conference to be held in America. PIRACY. Piracy is still fairly common in China, even though decapitation is the penalty for those who are captured. The method of doing the thing is for the pirate band to take a number of passages on the vessel they intend to seize, and when a signal is given they rush out with revolvers and force the captain to take the ship to a certain spot where small pirate fishing boats are waiting. Ships up to 2000 toils have been captured in thjs way. !