THE POSITION IN CHINA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XL, Issue 13156, 16 August 1913, Page 2

THE POSITION IN CHINA.

In a moat interesting article on the recent revolution m China, the Sydney Daily Telegraph points out that the future of China* with its 450,000,000 people, has a pressing, possibly even a vital) importance for. Australasia. Hence tho events that are happening m that country must be watched here with close interest, because, while the . rebellion of jhe . South against the North has been .crushed by force of arms, the very ease with which the victory has been attained has inspired President Yu#n\Shi Kai's adherents wi^h a desire to establish him as ian autocrat and the founder of a dynasty. History, m fact, says our con- | temporary, is repeating itself quite monotonously. From First Consul of the Republic of France to Emperor of tho French was only a step for Napoleon ,Bonaparte, just as the transition from President of the Second Republic to Emperor was no more than a step across ,a pool of blood for his nephew, Louis Napoleon. Yuan Shi Kai's position as the Republican President of China, assured of the support of a. dominating army, supplies a parallel that is curiously close. It appears to his adherents, at any rate, that a "coup d'etat" at this stage would make YuaVi Emeperor of China "de facto"; for that and nothing else is what is meant by "the foundation of a dynasty." Political philosophers have speculated m times past on the probable results to tho world if a Chinese Napoleon should emerge from that vast and populous nation. If the adeherents of Yuan Shi Kai should succeed m realising their hopes for the exaltation of the President to a hew Imperial throne amd incidentally for proportionate honors and emoluments for themselves — the world may yet see the contingency which has haunted the dreams of states, men actually realised. Yuan Shi Kai : is now virtually a military dictator. He

dissolved the Parliament at Peking forthwith when it ventured to oppose his will. He is master of the situation by virtue of the military strength at his disposal. Up to the present both Russia and Japan have formally lent moral support to Yuan Shi Kai m his military operations! against the rebtellifoula Southerners. Whether they would support him if he proclaimed nimself Emperor is another matter. It is not m the interest of either Russia or Japan that a strong centralised government with a military Emperor at its head should be established m China. On the other hand, the existing disorganisation m China is a peril, to the general peace. China is enormously wealthy m natural and potential richer — one of the wealthiest countries m. the world. It is so absurdly weak m military strength — m proportion to its huge population — that it has been unable to preserve its territorial integrity. Russia and Japan are both camped on the soil of China at the present time, and every considerable nation m Europe, as well as the United States, has .secured a foothold, commercially, if not territorially, m different parts of the country. A nation that is at once extremely rich and extremely weak is a standing temptation to other nations to despoil it. When that fact has once sunk into the Chinese consciousness, it is highly probable that an at- 1 tempt will be made to change the weakness into strength. Democracy being .virtually impossible m a country, of 450,000,000 people, with no experience m the working of representative institutions, the work of reorganisation m China m & military sense must apparently be done by an autocrat if it is done at all. Whether Yuan Shi Kai is the man to do it remains to be. seen. If either Jje or any other man i should sue.peed m achieving the gigantic task m spite of the great difficulties to be surmounted, China would imperil other interests besides those of Russia and Japan. It is to the benefit of the world at large that China should be strong enough to be stable. But she will hardly be helped to become so strong as to be a danger to her international neighbors. At present Yuan is dependent upon the Powers for his finances. They pay the piper, and therefore they are entitled*! to call the tune.