CHINA’S CIVIL WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1924, Page 10

CHINA’S CIVIL WAR.

CAUSES OF THE CONFLICT. MILITARY JEALOUSIES. MULTIPLICITY OF PROVINCES. Anything may happen in -China, ■which is one of the enigmas of the woirld. ‘So vast her territory, so immteihse her population, that the inhabitants of one part may seldom have mfueh knowledge of what is happening ih another. Children of the Orient located in New Zealand, therefore, may well be pardoned if they profess to have only a hazy idea of what is now reported to be occurring in the provinces of Chekiang and Kiangsn, on the shores of the China Sen. They assume—and, probably rightly so—’that the customary game of “catch as catch can” is in .progress between two military generals, who conceive that the psychological moment ■has arrived for a coup de mhin. China is a great commonwealth, With a multiplicity of provinces, or states, each of Which exercises sovereign rights of its own. There are also political parties—the National Party, the Country or Progressive Parity, the Labour or Industrial Party—all 1 with unspellable and unpronounceable names, but vigorous enough in their operations. There is also the Military Party, which, although by no means the stronger, nevertheless exercise a dominating influence in national affairs, and, generally, is the disturbing factor in the internal affairs of the young republic. And there is no pact? WHEN GENERALS FALL OUT. The Chinese as a nation are peaceloving and abiding. But when gover* nors and generals fall out —* —! That, the Chekiang-Kiangßu squabble. According to cabled information, it began it is assumed, is what has happened in about the ownership of an arsenal outside Shanghai, and the Wlusung fonts, further along the coast. That is quite probable. Military jealousies axe a fearful thing, and bloodshed is anticipated before the military governors and their fire- cat i n g co m mander s - in - ch i ef—who seem also to have a personal feud—effect a settlement of their differences, and so determine for the time being who is to be “top dog.” The exact military strength of the two provinces is not known locally, but as the inhabitants total something like 50.000,000 in each case, it is assumed that both are equipped with a fairly effective fighting machine, and of about even strength. General Wu-Pei-Fu, said

to be backing Kiangsu. i« in charge of the military at Peking, and General Chang Tso-lin, who favours the chaims of Chekiang, is military governor of Mukden. They are leaders of separate parties, always in opposition. There seems nothing left but to fight it out. DANGER TO HSANGHAI. The danger to Shanghai, the great ■ trading port on the East China Sea, to I which both Chekiang and Kiangsu con--1 tribute a huge trade in silks and other < ommodities, is that it lies at the mercy nf both the squabbling provinces—as in the pincers of a nut-oracker, liable to bp smashed in the pressure from both Rides. The adjoining port of Wusung is in a .similar predicament. But the fact that British, American, and Japanese warship© have 'landed troops at Shanghai is a clear indication that the outside Powers do not intend to leave the commercial centre of the East, with Its immense cosmopolitan population, to the mercy of faction fighter®. They may have to interfere in the trouble, though it is hardly likely they would do more than protect the European population. Any further interference. most likely, would lead to greater turmoil, for the Chinese, quarrel a? -they may among themselves, have a rooted objection to foreign intervention in any shape or form, and ar? quick to make common cause against nu outside enemy. 'Phis is only natural—the British have i a similar habit. There is no hope of iany intervention from -the Peking Government. It would be useless for it to try. ft never yet has been able to con trol those provinces which are able to support a military governor and a standing army, or even the appointments of military governors, which seemingly are made on demand, and ate held practically at the point of the bayonet, by the man with the biggest military force to back him up. It is thee? military rivals who are the disturbing factors in China to-day. Her people want peace, desire to live in harmony anrong themselves and \rith their neighbours, to progress, and to show the world that the republic is worth While.