IMPRESSIONS OF CHINA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19924, 18 April 1928, Page 8

IMPRESSIONS OF CHINA.

It J, B. COKDUBTE.

FOREIGN WIDESPREAD HOSTILITY,! SOME CONSTRUCTIVE FORCIiS

The general impresuion which an tun biassed observer gets from travel in China at the momenlj is on the whole pessimistic. If he be an economist with some sen6e of history, the tragic elements of the situation are likely to be deepened* The plight of the foreign community i 8 not a pleasant one, and it is on the whole bitterly resentful of the way in vrhich its immediate interests -sire being sacrificed to the long, term policy of conciliation being pursued by the major Powers, 'this, however, is after all not the main i issue, which is the outcome of the present situa* iion for the Chinese people. No one can foresee even the events of the next few years, and it is quite possible that the age-long experience of the Chinese in political compromise may yet avert the worst of the threatening evils. One fact seems to stand out clearly—the vast majority of the leaders of Chinese opinion are convinced that foreign interference must be ended. This conviction is not rational so much as emotional. One may rail at it. or argue against it, or plead the economic interests of the Chinese people themselves. The question has passed out of the sphere of reasoning into the region of eraotion, and as such has to be accepted as. an element in the situation. Policies of the Great Powers. This fact modifies at once what is the first obvious constructive force at work in China. Whatever past history may, reveal, the representatives of the Powers in China to-day are genuinely anxious to patch \up the situation without extending foreign rights and privileges. Despite wide, spread Chinese suspicion, this appeai-s to be true even of Japan, and it is certainly true of both Britain and the United States. tn all these countries there are, of course, elements which still believe that the gestures of abandonment of foreign privileges backed by force was a fatal mistake, and that arnwd intervention will ba the only ultimate solution for China's own sake as well as for the sake of other people. It is possible that if conditions become rapidly worse and prejudicially affect large economic interests, this opinion will come into dominance. Japan especially has much at stake and may be forced into the position where the so-called, imperialistic policy will be resumed. But at the moment a patient policy of conciliation is being pursued. Twenty years ago it would have been more effective perhaps; but the time has gone by when leaders will ask for or accept anything from foreigners except to be left alone. Sectional Governments may try to buttress their own 6'batus by coquetting with one or more Powers; but the general trend of feeling is unmistakable.

Financial Arrangements. The same feeling hampers the influence of the only remaining; symbol of national unity in China—this foreign-controlled Chinese maritime customs service. The other national services, even the Posts Office and the salt gabelle, are disrupted* The foreign loans secured upon their receipts have had to be met from custom« surpluses in recent years, and there se«ins no immediate prospect of national. unity regarding them. There is even a danger of the customs being divided and thsNanking Government tends to reccgnisa only the commissioner of custom} a& Shanghai and not his chief, the inspectorgeneral, at Peking. Efforts are toeing made now to avoid this rupture. The acting inspector-general has visited Nwiking and so have the British and French Ministers, while the American Minister is preparing for the visit shortly. This is a big departure from the policy so far maintained of recognising only the existing Government at Peking. It is connected, SO rumour ha,s it, with efforts to patch up an arrangement between north and south on the basis of division of territory and division of revenue. Here, as in so many ( ways, China seems at a turning point. If the unity of the customs service goes, the last link will be severed and the foreign loans, already facing a large fall in customs revenue which his hitherto been sufficient for their service, will be jeopardised. Rise of Self-mad 8 Men. Within Ufina itself construcuv© forces are at worJt; but they are not immediately hopeiul. The ettort to jump, at one leaf) from monarchy to republican nationalism nas iaued, and thiie 13 a distinct reversion to the traditional systjm of local government by autocratio military leaders with wliom civic governors are associated with varying degrees of power and responsibility. JNo man of destiny" has as yet appeared to unify the nation by force. The military leaders are a varied, but, on tne whole, poor lot. Some of the most successful are ex-bandits like Chang; Ta'oIm and Chang Chung-chang. Chiang iiai.shek was in early me a uili-coliecior in biiaughai. It i 3 a clear case of self* mads men rising to the top 111 a new, industry. From a longer point of view the facts are considerably more hopeful, especially in the educational'sphere. The foreigner in China is apt to hear only of the* greed and lust and shameless lack ol principle of the militarists; but there ato many quiet, devoted scholars workins, often with heavy hearts, Cor tb« welfare of their country in the next generation. It is invidious to select individua) names. One recalls a big north countryman, •an ex-graduate of a. naval coijfcce who, .thirty years ago, began * fnocicni scientific school with four pupils and has persevered through financial stringency and discouragement until today no is president of a university with foui hundred students, a boys' middle scnoc-l of 1600 pupils and a girls' middle school of 500 students. The whole venture has been privately endowed by his efforts. It is based upon the teaching of science, and economics, is purely Chinese and whollv independent. Indeed there is a general rally of devotion to sound educational training. The first, on the whole unfortunate, stage of sending the best students abroad, mainly, to America, is rapidly passing. Missionary, Government and private universities are setting their feet on the more difficult. road toward evolving their own characteristic adaptation to the modern age. It is a discouraging and difficult path to tread, but the only sure way out of China's troubles.'

The Missionary Movement. One might add instances of the re* orientation of the missionary movement, which also lias been passing , through severe self-criticism'and seems to ;be trending steadily away from evangelical and toward educational activities, conceived still in a spirit of Christian service but purged of many elements which the' Chinese only too clearly connected with the Western superiority complex. The Chinese Christian movement itself despite some recent persecution .is. iitroiig and active. In a country which has so long depended upon a moral code of enlightened self-interest, and in which the breakdown of traditional sanctions and conventions has revealed so clearly, as both Chinese and foreigners will testify, the widespread lack of moral stamina and character, this is a. hopeful sign. Confucianism has .ackea the moral dynamic of a real religioo and Buddhism, the salvation of Japan, has fallen to very low depths in China. On all hands one hears laments concerning the low standards of ethical - conduct that are being revealed. Many modern Chinese see in, science the religion of the Went, others seek tftfl transcendence of'self in patriotism, nearly all are agreed that some dynMW® is necessary to lift truth aoovo seeking.