WAR IN CHINA

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 3 December 1926, Page 5

WAR IN CHINA

FOOCHOW’S NAVY. GOES OVER TO REDS. OUTRAGES ON MISSIONARIES. BY CABLE —PEESS ASSOCIATION —COPY RIGHT. Received 11.15 a.m. to-day. PWjvLNG, Deo. 2. Foochow’s navy has gone ovei .to the Cantonese, who are expected to occupy Foochow t£)-morrow without fighting, another reverse for Marshal Suit Qhuan Fang. Ghiang Ivai Shell's recent declaration of friendliness towards the missionaries prompted a Kuikiang missionary to broadcast details of outrages suffered from Ghiang’.s troops. Homes were forcibly entered, furniture smashed, everything saleable including organs, sewing machines, pianos, medicines and surgical instruments, was 'auctioned. all books and bible-s were burned, clothes ripped by bayonets, homes occupied by soldiers ancl the owners were driven out. Similar reports were received from other sources. American missionaries in Honan province requested the Pteking legation for rifles for self-defence, but permission was refused by the Chinese authorities, who declared that the procedure was dangerous. The Hankow- .situation is easier, as the result of Japanese agreeing to the humilitating demands of the strikers. The essential services are being maintained. Pickets are reported to have been withdrawn from the concession. Mr. Liampson, the new- minister from, London, will proceed to Hankow by the cruiser Petersfield on Saturday, "ignoring Peking in view of the up-river situation. . . . He states that London is awaiting instructions before deciding on protective measures. The dissection between Wu Pie Fit and Chang Tso Lin has caused the abandonment of the attempt to recapture Wuhan cities.

INTERVENTION IN CHINA. BRITAIN LOATH TO ACT A PUZZLING ATTITUDE. LONDON, Dec. 1. In the House of Commons Sir Austen Chamberlain stated that all steps were being taken to protect the lives and interests of British subjects in China, but otherwise Great Britain was most loath to intervene in the domestic affairs o± China. , Diplomatic correspondents and leader writers appear to be puzzled by the British policy regarding China. The Morning Post hints that important developments in the British Government’s attitude towards the Canton revOluionary Government may be expected shortly, and a modus vivendi reached short of the recognition that the revolutionaries require. The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic writer says: ‘‘Not only in British but in other quarters, the same conventional phrase is being used, ‘We are closely watching developments.’ We have now heard this refrain in relation to China for over tw-o years. This attitude is strange, since the warnings from British nationals on the spot, have hitherto been justified up to the hilt.” The correspondent alludes to the desire in certain circles to recognise the Canton Government and dispel the prejudice which characterises it as Red or Bolshevistic.

A MERTCAN ALOOFNESS. WASHINGTON, Dec. L. That- America, will not even join the League of Nations in China, was cii© new policy of aloofness announced today alter a Cabinet meeting, which considered the Oriental crisis. The Government considers the control of the Customs houses purely' a native matter with which America ,is not concerned, and American naval forces at Hankow and other Chinese cities will, be- used solely for the protection of American, lives- and interests. They will not join with the British or other nations in a proposal to prevent the anticipated seizure of the Hankow Customs by the rebel Cantonese army.