CHINA TO-DAY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 313, 2 December 1933, Page 10

CHINA TO-DAY

GOVERNMENT IN DANGER. An interesting and comprehensive survey of the political situation ill China, is given by tbe Sydney Morning Herald’s Shanghai corrcspon--dent, writing under date of October 28, to that journal. He says:— By the time this letter reaches you the political crisis that is now confronting China will be over, but the fundamental conditions which have brought it about are likely to remain. Tlie Minister of Finance, Mr T. V. Soong, has once again tendered liis resignation. All sorts of reasons for liis ac- ! tion have' been given, such as a difference of opinion with his colleagues in regard to the policy of improving relations with Japan, the difficulty of finding money to finance the campaign against the Communists, and so oil. But these are only contributory causes. The fact is that General Cliiang Kaishek, the head of military forces, and Mr Soong each aspire to leadership, and the proffered resignation is only the outcome of a struggle for supremacy that began before Air Soong left to attend the World Economic Conference in .London. From very reliable quarters it is learned that, actually while Mr Soong was on his trip, General Cliiang Kaishek was anxious that he should be relieved from his post at the Finance Ministry. This, incidentally, shows the curious working of a certain type of. Chinese mind, it was obvious to everyone that Air Soong was doing excellent propaganda work for China, and was materially improving the country’s credit abroad. This was instanced by the commodity loan of gold, 50,Ul)0,00U dollars, secured in America. Though this loan was a poor bargain for China from the financial point of view, its political importance could not be over-rated. Yet, just after the conclusion of this loan, Cliiang is said to have suggested that Soong should be dismissed. MEDIAEVAL AND AIODERN. The two men have little in common. Air Soong was educated in America, he talks English in preference to Chinese, and is never seen in public except in western garb. In every essential lie is modern, and the Finance Department under his control has been run as far as possible on the most up-to-date lines. General Cliiang, on the other hand, was educated in Japan, knows little or no English, and when he axiepars in mufti is usually seen in the orthodox long gown of the better class Chinese. The fact that they are both Christians, and that Cliiang married Soong’s sister, and thus became a member of the “Sun-Soong Dynasty,” might be expected to make for co-operation, but tins has not been the case.

There is no suggestion that either of these men is unpatriotic. Each probably thinks that the salvation of the country depends upon his leadership. Air Soong believes that the progress of the country could best be secured by modernising it in every way, and by ridding it of the military incubus. He is not a military man, and it may be supposed that one of the old Chinese ideas that he has retained is disdain for men who adopt the military calling. The saying is well known : “Nails are not made from good iron; soldiers are not made from good men.” But Soong is a realist, and he knows that the China of today requires efficient soldiers. He does not, however, believe that the policy of allowing tlie military to , obtain over 50 per cent, of the revenue —often "from loans —should be continued indefinitely. Consequently he has only reluctantly complied with Chiang’s demands for more and more money for his anti-Communist campaign. Chiang is also a realist, but a military man. His power and prestige will continue only as long as he can keep the mouths of his hungry brood of generals filled with financial worms. While he also desires the modernisation of the country, he considers that it can wait, and that the first requirement is to rid the country of the Communists, even if it be necessary to float another “disbandment loan.” The Chinese are said to be deficient in a sense of humour, but this quality was certainly not absent in a Government that floated a loan of 70,000,000 dollars in September, 1929, to be applied to the “disbandment of troops” in succession to an issue of 50.000,000 dollars six months earlier for the same purpose, and which has been steadily increasing its armed forces ever since. CAMPAIGN AGAINST COMMUNISTS Some sympathy can be felt for both

of these men. Soong really wants to balance tbe country’s budget, and believes that the pressure on the financial boiler can be increased no more without danger of an explosion. It must be remembeied that while he is nominally Alinister of Finance for China, lie is only actually the Finance Alinister for the National Government, which is a totally different thing. He has lost—forever as far as can be judged—the revenues of Manchuria and Jeliol. North China south of the Great Wall is costing more than it returns in revenue. Szechwan is withholding all the National Government revenue, and much the same state of things obtains in all the southern provinces. . Soong has been compelled to issue loan after loan, and although the total domestic indebtedness would not be formidable if the National Government were in full financial control, as things are it causes uneasiness. Direct taxation cannot safely be increased in the provinces in which the National Government has control; the Cutsoms duties have been raised to a point when the law of “diminishing returns” has begun to operate; foreign loans are an impossibility, and the Chinese 'bankers are by no means enthusiastic about advancing more money.

j All this is known to Chning in a gen- ! eral kind of way, but he has rather expansive views about finance that are not peculiar to the military men of China. He holds, and with much reason, that it is impossible to permit the continuance of a state of affairs I when thousands of square miles are ■ held by the Communists, who have es- ! tablished their own .Soviet Government, have banks, hospitals, and newspapers, and have their own paper money. The flatter, by the way, significantly enough, •is adorned with the Aloseow hammer ' and sickle, a design which finds favour I on their flags and elsewhere. The over- ! throw of what is virtually a rival Government is considered by Chaing as so ’ essential that everything must give | way. Also his own personal reputation ,is at sfake. Off and on for the past j two or three years he has started campaigns to “exterminate” the Commun- ! ists, and to fail again would be fatal to his prestige. UNPAID TROOPS AND OFFICIALS. That there is real danger of this great drive against the Communists, in which about 200,000 soldiers and over 100 aeroplanes are said to be engaged, aaid which has actually started, | being a failure cannot be doubted, j Official communiques from the “front” are of the optimistic character that is usually found in such documents, but | unofficial news has been coming through |of a disquietening nature. It is said ■ that numbers of the Government troops have not been paid for some months, and that some of them have actually gone over to the Communists. Others that have not gone so far as this have nevertheless shown considerable more discretion than valour, although it is only fair to record that some of the troops have been fighting extremely gallantly in spite of terribly heavy losses. But, if reports are to be believed, some of the troops are adopting the go-slow tactics that have become popular in the civil services. A go-slow strike by the teachers employed in North China has only just been settled. These men had been left unpaid for months. It is, by the way, rather surprising that in China, a land in which the scholar used to be held in the highest veneration, the employees of the Education Department are extremely badly treated. They are poorly paid, and often their miserable pittance is withheld for months at a time. This is one of the unfortunately many unlovely features of the new dispenssttion. AIR SOONG’S SUCCESSOR. If the resignation of Mr Soong really comes about, it is probable that Dr. H. H. Kung will be his successor, in which case control of the finances will be kept “in the family,” as Dr. Kung is also allied by marriage with the Soongs. The choice, however, may fall upon General Chang Chun, formerly Alayor of Greater Shanghai, who is an out and out supporter of General Chiang Kai-shek. Both these are men with good reputations, but few foreigners here believe that they are of the same calibre as Air Soong, or could handle the financial problems with the dexterity that even the opponents of Air Soong—and they are not few in number —admit that he lias shown for manv years past.