THE OTATO DAILY TIMES Tuesday, June 5, 1945. CHINA RESURGENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25862, 5 June 1945, Page 4

THE OTATO DAILY TIMES Tuesday, June 5, 1945. CHINA RESURGENT

There has been good news from China. In the past few weeks her re-formed armies have not only arrested the Japanese attacks on the principal American air bases in China, but have launched a series of well-executed counter-offensives which may have far-reaching consequences in the war against Japan. The first important Chinese gain was the recapture of Nanning, in the Kwangsi Province. This town is situated at the junction of the railway from Hanoi, in Indo-China, and the road connecting with the railway that is being built by the Japanese from Liuchow, the southern terminal of the Chinese railway system and an important Japanese supply base. Further north, in Hunan* the Japanese column which set out from Paoching to seize the American Fourteenth Air Force base, at Chihkiang has been thrown back on its headquarters, and Paoching itself is now' invested by Chinese troops. Paoching, Liuchow, and Nanning are all vital points on the Japanese land corridor leading from the northern provinces of China to Indo-China, and thence to Siam, Burma, and Malaya. Japanese control of this tenuous corridor has been precarious at the best, but since British and United States naval power has established a virtual blockade of the sea approaches to Indo-China the importance of the land route to the enemy has been doubled. If the Chinese armies can succeed in capturing Paoching and Liuchow, and can consolidate their gains, they will practically isolate the Japanese garrisons in the south. This renewed activity by the Chinese armies is heartening evidence that, in spite of preoccupations on other fronts, the Allies have been able to furnish Chiang Kai-shek with the equipment and support necessary for the undertaking of these offensives. The amount of material that has been delivered to China by the Stilwell road and by the air transport route over “ the Hump ” has, quite understandably, not been divulged, but it is known to be considerable, and a report printed in our columns yesterday suggested that the new American - trained and equipped Chinese Sixth Army was in action on the Hunan front. Japan, however, still has superiority in trained and equipped armies in China, and if she chooses to redeem her losses in blood it is unlikely that the Chinese reserves will be adequate to meet the demands of a series of pitched battles. Lieutenant-general Wedemeyer, who commands the American forces in, Cfuna, gave a hint of this when he stated recently that China was not yet ready for a grand counter - offensive. The Japanese war lords would doubtless have little hesitation in despatching their armies to reopen communications with the treasure houses of the. south were it not for one sobering factor. The conquest of Okinawa and the Philippines by United States forces is almost complete. Only Formosa, the defences of which might be paralysed •by air attack, bars the approaches to the Chinese coast. A landing on the coast of China, in a locality where the terrain was such that the overwhelming strength of the Allies in armour and < aircraft would have space to deploy and manoeuvre, would be a military achievement second in importance only to a landing on Japan itself. Most experts agree that however much Japan may suffer from bombing, only the complete defeat of her armies will achieve victory, and it is on the mainland of China that this decision will best be years of her tenure of Malaya and the Netherlands Indies Japan has accumulated enormous quantities of war materials which, in addition to the resources of her territories further north, will meet her war requirements for a long time to come. The devastation caused by bombing in the industrial cities of Japan has been very serious, but it may be doubted whether it will have more than a long-range effect on her ability to continue the war. Korea and Manchuria—both rich in war potential—as well as the northern provinces of China, have been developed intensively and support many duplicates of the factories of the principal islands. A landing in China offers the most promising means of coming to grips with the enemy in a manner which would enable the Allies to employ their superior methods of warfare to the greatest advantage. Men and equipment could be shipped quickly and in mass from Europe, and America, while the construction of numerous air bases would permit the carrying out of a policy of saturation bombing which would overwhelm both industries and repair services. Leading American officers have made no secret of their eventual intention to invade the China coast. How, where and when this landing will be made is probably the greatest and most pressing problem with which the Japanese High Command is confronted.