LIFE IN CHINA.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXI, Issue 2342, 28 October 1926, Page 7

LIFE IN CHINA.

EXPERIENCES WITH BANDITS.

POWERS’ SHORT-SIGHTED POLICY.

The fact that the massacre of the inhabitants of the town of She-ki-chen wa?.s the work of banfdits and was not concerned with the civil wars which are taking place in different parts of the country was emphasised by the Rev. H. S. Conway, reports the Auckland correspondent of the Lyttelton Times. Mr. Conway was working at She-ki-chen mission station for 28 years. He said that the massacre was probably the result of resistance on the part of the inhabitants to the entry of the bandits. As a rule, towns opened their gates to the bandits, but if a town should resist and some of the bandits should be killed, then their comrades would wreak terrible vengeance. Although the massacre is not directly connected with the civil wars, Mr. Conway said the disorganisation and lack of any controlling authority having real power, resultfrom the wars, had emboldened the bandits. DUG-OUT FOR MISSIONARIES. There had been trouble with bandits at She-ki-chen for 12 years past, before the civil wars commenced. The missionalries had, upon occasions, remained awake and full/ dressed throughout the night in tear of bandits but in the past the town had always been abel to repel the attackers. There were dug-outs at the rear of the mission station to be used as places of refuge should the town ever be taken and sacked by bandits. There was a line military officer at She-ki-chen, and he had recently called on the missionaries to assure them that nothing would be allowed to happen to them. Mr. Conway was at She-ki-chin at the time of the Boxer rebellion, and at that time the missionaries spent 17 days in hiding and only escaped with their lives by a miracle. Mr. Conway added that even at that time conditions were better than at present, as there was a central authority to whom tin appeal could be made. EFFECT OF PROPAGANDA.

Referring to the menace of Bolshevist propaganda in China, Mr. Conway said that formerly the people had shown some measure of gratitude and appreciation for the work of the missionaries, but anti-foreign propaganda directed from Moscow had changed this. The Bolshevik propaganda could be read only by' students, but as they followed the directions given them like sheep, and as they were spread throughout the whole of China, tneir influence was felt everywhere. As a result of the ill-feeling thus caused, the lives of foreigners were greatly endangered in places where they would formerly have been quite secure from attack. “All this time the Powers have been acting on the foolish assumption that Pekin rules China,” Mm Conway continued. “As a matter of fact, Pekin does not rule ten yards outside the city. The whole thing is a pure farce.” Mr. Conway added that he was glad to notice in a cable message a Great Britain might recognise a number of Provisionary Governments and abandon the pretence that Pekin really represented China:. If Great Britain were to co-operate with those who actually were in power a great improvement might be effected. Among the real rulers of China was Marshal Sun Chuanfang, who controlled Shanghai, and the five neighbouring provinces, who was reported to be opposing the “Red” forces vigorously. NEED FOR INTERVENTION. Continuing, Mr. Conway criticised the non-intervention policy of the United States, and stated that in one town America had refused to intervene on behalf of 21 of her subjects, while Great Britain had intervened on behalf of five British subjects. America would probably be compelled to intervene in the longrun and it would be best to do so at once. Another of the important factors in China at the present, Mr. Conway said, was General Feng Yu-hsiang, known as “The Christian General.” Owing to the refusal of the Powers to assist him, he had been compelled to accept aid from Russia, but the fact that there had been no news of his activities for a month past seemed to suggest that he was no longer actively assisting the “Reds.” He had the best disciplined army in China, and his troops included 30,000 or 40.000 Christians.