CHINA'S ANARCHY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18461, 26 July 1923, Page 7

CHINA'S ANARCHY

' ■' /.A :;.-r " ; RIVER STEAMERS ATTACKED GUNBOAT RETURNS FIRE. BRITISHER CAPTURED. By Telegraph—Press . Association— (Received . 7.5 p.m.) . - A. and N,Z. . , . PEKING. July 24. Chinese bandits , near .! Chiuho, in the Yunnan; province, South China, captured Mr. D'Arcy Whetherbe, a British mining engineer. ~. ;■ Steamers.- arriving at Ichang, an inland river port on the Yangtse, report, that American and British steamers, under the escort of the American gunboat, Monocac.y, were heavily fired on near Chung King. The gunboat returned the fire, inflicting heavy damage.

V CHINAS NEXT WAR. : MILITARY RIVALS PREPARING. , The situation in China becomes daily more chaotic through tho bankruptcy of the Centra! Government and the manoeuvrings of the provincial politicians and militarists, wrote a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian last month. Last year, when General Wu Pei-fu appeared to have beaten Marshal Chang Tso-lin to a stand, still, various members of his own party interfered and prevented him from obtaining a victory which might have resulted in a reunification of China. A3 a consequence all parties are preparing for another combat this . summer, ' while protesting that nothing is farther from their thoughts. .... At the moment, the various opposing forces are fairly clearly defined, though it is more difficult to determine their ultimate _ grouping and alliances. At Loyang, in the province of Honan, are the headquarters of General Wu Pei-fu, while at Paotinfxfu are the troops of his erstwhile chief and present ally Marshal Tsao Kun, the Military Governor of Chihli. Since last year's campaign the two have controlled; most of the. territory north of the Yangtze and south of the Great Wall. Poking is supposedly a neutral area, and Tientsin contains many political opponents in residence in the foreign concessions, but any military opposition to the so-called Chihli party, is unlikely as lone as Tsao Run's brother is Governor of Tientsin and Wu Pei-fu's lieutenant of last year, General Feng Yu-hsiang, has troops in and around Peking. Opposing Parties in South. South of the Yangtze is an area given over to the conflicts of the various parties which oonsider themselves as the Southern Government, with headquarters at Canton. Dr. Sun Yat-,sen is probably the most prominent member of these factions, but even he finds it impossible to hold the reins of power for more than a few brief months at a time, and his attempt to come north across the Yanctze last year was a miserable failure, partly through lack of co-ordination" and the necessary funds and partly because even Chinese soldiers realised the danger of invading a hostile territory (.cross a mile-wide flood over which there are no bridges and but few ferries. As long as General Wu Pei-fu has a few loyal troops and the support of even the neutrality of the navy he has little to fear from this direction. The northern portion of the navy, now stationed off Shanghai and Nanking, has, however, recently proclaimed its independence, which may indicate an intention to take a hand in the struggle. The Fengtien party, which was defeated by General Wu Pei-fu last year, has its headquarters at Mukden, and its advance guard is now at Shanhaikwan on the Peking-Mukden railway, its military and political operations being directed by Marshal Chang Tso-lin.

Foreign Soldiers of Fortune. In 1922 '.Dr. Sun Ya/t-sen, Marshal Chang Tso-lin, the, Anfu party m Tientsin, and iha military Governor of Hohaa combined : forces ;; to crush General • Wu Pei-fu, and Marshal Tsao'Kun. 'Dr. Sun's forces " refused to cross the Yangtze, and held him Virtually a prisoner pending the liquidation' of their arrears of pay. The Governor o:f Honan sprang his rebellion independently, and was easily crushed by Wu's lieutenant, General Feng Yu-hsiang. The Mukden forces advanced down the railway until they ere about 20 miles south of -Peking, when they encountered the soldiers 'led by Wu Pei-fu, and within a week they were streaming back to the north in, the utmost disorder. - '; ' This : year it seems that' Marshal Chang Tso-lin may intend to remain on the de-, fensive, for many of the Chihli troops have been drafted from around the capital and . are en route for Jehol, which may be considered as a* point from which a flanking attack northwards could be launched should 1 General Wu Pei-fu ; so desire. Various soldiers of fortune, chiefly Russian and Japanese, have been busy training these Chinese levies ammunition has been ? supplied in considerable quantities 'from Japan, and Russian chemists are reported to have been employed in the manufacture of poison gas. Marshal Chang Tso-lin •' is reported to have some three divisions, or roughly 50,000 men, in the vicinity of Shanhaikwan, while his reserves come to another seven divisions in all, though it is doubtful if he has sufficient equipment and ammunition to supply them satisfactorily. ■ / "'v . General !Wu Pei-fu has moved _ 30,000 troops into the Jehol area, ostensibly to "oppress; bandits," as his press agent naively announces, and in reserve there are another ten or twelve divisions' if needed. The same lack of equipment will Presumably operate here, 'as Loyang and aotingfii are some distance •in the rear. There is only one railway, and even that can do little to supply a- force operating in ! the Jehol oistrict. " There are considerable forces under Genera Feng Yu-hsiang • stationed in camp in the immediate vicitny of Peking, so that it would seem that the city itself has little to apprehend. u ;