The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, MAY 8, 1922. CHINA’S HOPE.

Southland Times, Issue 19509, 8 May 1922, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, MAY 8, 1922. CHINA’S HOPE.

For some time China has been looking to General Wu Pei-fu as the agent by which she may obtain freedom from the domination of the militarists of the north, who are suspected of a desire to play a game suited to Japanese interests. The optimists have even gone the length of dreaming of a re-united China by means of an agreement between the Pekin Government and the Southern Government, headed by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. Dr Sun’s authority extends over a restricted area in the south, covering practically the provinces of Kuang-tung and Kuang-si, but be has the immense advantage of being armed with political experience on Western lines, far ahead of anything of the kind possessed in the north. General Wu has been in control of the whole of the central portion of China and has worked hand in hand with General Tsao-kun, the overlord of the province of Chilili, in which Pekin stands. General Chang Tso-lin controls the whole of Manchuria and for some time has held the capital in the hollow of his hand. These three superTuchuns or Inspector-Generals are the three dictators of northern China, but there can be no peace until Dr Sun is induced by diplomacy or force to consent to an arrangement whereby a unified government can be established. Chang a little while ago was a hunted bandit, but he was able to overshadow Tsao-kun because his troops were better trained and because the latter commander was poor in organisation. Officially, Wu is Tsao-kun’s lieutenant, but the success of the Yangtze Tuchun will probably result in a reversal of their positions. Chang is not yet disposed of, but it looks as if the Yangtze forces will consolidate their position and be in a position to open negotiations with the Canton Government, which, up to the present, has rejected all overtures from the military leaders. Sun is radical in his outlook, and he has all along evinced a marked disinclination to have anything to do with the militarists, but prior to Wu’s march on Pekin, Sun’s troops moved north and west, a development which may have been designed to protect the southern portion of Wu’s dominions from the semi-independ-ent provinces of Szechuan, Kuei-chou and Yunnan, where the Governors are ready to throw in their lot with anybody. It is stated that Wu is prepared to negotiate with Sun. This has been in the forefront of Wu’s policy ever since he became an important factor in China’s affairs, and he added not so long ago that he “would exhaust all diplomatic efforts before acting against the Cantonese,” a remark that is at once an invitation and a warning. Wu knows that while Chang is the immediate military obstacle, Sun is the real problem ahead and without him unified government over all China is impossible. Interest in Chinese affairs therefore, is due to set south before long.