CHINA TODAY

Northern Advocate, 28 July 1934, Page 8

CHINA TODAY

PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES. j STORY AT FIRST HAND. AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW. “The reading public of New Zea- ! land are familiar with the fact that. | groat changes arc taking place in j China, but find it difficult to keep j abreast of these changes,” said the I Rev. G. 11. McNeur, in the course of i an interview with a “Northern Advocate’’ representative today. Mr McNeur, who has been a Presbyterian missionary in China for over TO years, and is principal of the Theological Seminary at Canton,- is probably better fitted than any other man in New Zealand at the present time, to speak with authority upon affairs In the great Chinese Empire. Japan’s Attitude. Dealing with some of the outstanding factors which have made it difficult to follow happenings in China, Mr McNeur said: “There is just the staggering blow which China has recently received from her little neighbour Japan. The occupation of Manchuria late in 1031 and the attack on Shanghai early in 1032 were deeply resented by the Chinese people. It has to be admitted that conditions in Manchuria under the Chinese Government were far from ideal, and Japan’s large interests there were suffering in consequence. But it was the fact that the Nationalist Government’s control in Manchuria was becoming so advantageous to the Chinese development of that great area which alarmed Japan into such hasty and high-handed action. Japan had pledged herself, along with other Powers, to maintain the integrity of China and encourage her progress towards independence, stability and unity. When her own vital interests wore at stake Japan set back the clock for the whole of civilisation by ignoring her sacred pledges and launching an undeclared attack, “The new State of Manchukuo does not give Japan the desired outlet for her surplus population, as there are twenty-eight, million Chinese already there and conditions are not suitable for Japanese colonisation. It only provides her with raw material for industrial development and a free market for her manufactures. To excuse Japan by saying that her attack on China cases the situation for Britain and other nations is to support a policy .which will inevitably have a boomerang reaction in the future. But even the League of Nations’ condemnation has not had the slightest effect on the military leaders of Japan. China is helpless, and any attempt at resistance on her part would be made an excuse for further encroachments south of the Great Wall. Japan seems to have “got away,with it” and the Powers have been warned that their sympathy with China must be kept strictly within bounds. Not Lost Heart. “While China has been suffering from this crushing blow there are many evidences that she has not by any means lost heart. The greedy ambitions of her various war lords still'result in civil warfare and the Communist faction left as a heritage of China’s alliance with the Soviet still tries ruthlessly to overthrow the present order of things. But in spite of attack from without and dissension within, and •in spite of devastating floods and famine, the whole nation is moving forward to better conditions. There is a marvellous recuperative quality in the Chinese character. 'Sir Miles Lampson, during recent years Britain Ambassador in China, when relinquishing his office early this year, bore striking testimony from his own wide experience, to this fact. Tic said | he found wherever he went evidence of a strong, persistent, incoming tide of progress.” Signs of Development. “Perhaps,” continued Mr McNeur, “the most evident tokens of development are found in the opening of new roads for motor traffic and the speed with which China is taking to the air. Before long, planes carrying mails and passengers will be plying between many of the principal centres. In fact, this is. already the case. For example, there is regular service between Canton and Shanghai. In a land of great distances like China this speeding up of transit is going to mean a great deal for the unification of the country. It will also lead to a redistribution of the population so that the congestion in densely populated river areas may be relieved, and to the use of China ’s vast mineral wealth in industrial projects. - “But there is something taking place in addition to the material changes which arc making over her century-old towns into modern cities and speeding up communications. The now schools are reaching an ever-growing constituency of boys and girls and a now mental world is being opened up to young China. I Christian. Church’s Responsibility. ' “The question for the Christian Church, and really for Christian civilisation, is whether this groat race, which after so many centuries of rigid conservatism has through many blows from without and agitations from within been shaken into plasticity, will be moulded by forces which make for righteousness and peace. And this is a question in which wo in Now Zealand, because of our geographical proximity, are vitally concerned.. The work of tbe

Presbyterian Church of Now Zealand for the past thirty years in South China through its fine hospital, its schools, and its chapels, is taking on a. new significance as people realise how much our Dominion’s future may depend on the direction in which our big neighbour, China, moves.