CHINESE WOMEN TAKE UP ARMS

Southland Times, Issue 23346, 2 November 1937, Page 7

CHINESE WOMEN TAKE UP ARMS

Conflict Regarded As Holy War MISSIONARY WORKER’S OBSERVATIONS (Special to The Times) AUCKLAND, November 1. “To the last man and the last cent — that is the determination of the Chinese in what they regard as a holy war with the Japanese,” stated Miss R. J. Begbie, an Auckland woman who returned by the Niagara after 20 years of field work with the Chinese Inland Mission. Miss Begbie said the spirit oi the men had become fortified by the equal determination of the women, hundreds of whom had disguised themselves and taken their places as soldiers in the war zones. Because Miss Begbie was stationed in the Shansi province, many hundreds of miles to the north and west of Shanghai, she saw nothing of the actual warfare, but was able to observe the effects of the unified control brought about by the Japanese invasion. Grain and all foodstuffs had lately become strictly regimented, she said, and just before she left the country the authorities were asking villagers to husband all food not immediately required for local consumption. This should not be taken as an immediate necessity so much as a proper precaution. China had money, equipment and food to carry on the war far longer than most people imagined. Many of the reports that China was severely handicapped through lack of provisions or money ran counter to the true position The country was completely self-contained, had vast resources of coal and cotton, and could hold out indefinitely. One thing China seemed to lack was an adequate medical service, said Miss Begbie, but Britain and the United States were gradually meeting that need. In all parts of the country townspeople were given periodic training in air raid practice so that should Japanese aircraft penetrate far inland the people would know what to do and the psychological effect might not be so bad as it would if they were unprepared. For the most part those right inland had not been touched by the war, excepting that every man was warned that conscription might be expected if the war lasted longer than was expected. Thus the national spirit in China was something to be accounted for. __________