The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 1927. REDS IN CHINA.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 29 April 1927, Page 8

The Timaru Herald FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 1927. REDS IN CHINA.

Serious consideration is . being given by the Imperial Cabinet t.j many lies tile acts .committed by (..'autoJicse .soldiers m the territory in. which the detenders of foreign lives and interests in China, come into close' touch with the supI'uiteis of the Cantonese. It is hinted that retaliatory measures are threatened if unfriendly and murderous ads arc continued. The question is often. asked why Canton embraced Soviet Russia'/ 1 Well-iniormed writers reply that when Canton needed a friend, the only one who proved willing was ; Soviet Russia., but that is no j leason we are told, for tarring j ihe Cantonese or Ivuomintang j IToveinment with the brush of! Bolshevism. Rut Great Hritam's j position in China, is unique; indeed nilention has been repeatedly called not only to her paramount irade interests and investments in China, but also to the fact that she holds the Crown Colony of Hongkong at the very door of South China. Hongkong’s wealth and prosperity do not depend on its industry, import or export trade, but on its. transshipping-. Millions' of tons: and : millions of dollars have found : their way yearly into Hongkong ! for the niere reason of its bulj warklike situation in front of j (’anion. Hut tine as it is that the I leading shipping circles in ITong kong- fully realised that Hong- ! kong’s position depends on its ! relations' wif.lt the Cantonese and their goodwill, it is not: to be wondered at (hat they refine to give a helping hand to a Government Avhich aimed at nothing - lcs - j than the elimination of H.ong- | kong as a shipping centre and 1 storeroom for South China. IV rI haps that explains the Soviet’s j desire to see -he triumph of the Cantonese. Wizards in politic® desire to have it believed that ! Russia went into the Cantonese I game aiming at India. The “mail i in the street,’’ with his liking for j detective-story politics, may | believe that, but in the judgment ot a German correspondent who lms recently returned from ‘■dnmghai, it is too far-fetched to influence the policies of the Soviet Russian Republic which is "in desperate need of immediate results.” Then he tells ns that: “A well-known American writer, on the other hand, who lately travelled in the East, sees in the Russian machinations nothing but the Mo.scoviteV desire to stir up trouble lor tiro Anglo-Saxons, to get, so to say, bold of assets. One day, this gentleman says, the .Russian Ambassador will inform liis British colleague that Russia would be willing to givo up all connection with Canton in exchange for certain privileges, which England would otherwise never have granted. A nice little example of tit-for-tat politics this is. But I do not think that the expenses which Russia is. incurring m connection with the nationalistic movement in China would warrant such a game. The truth as usual might he found half-way. “With the steadfast advnnco of Canton the influence of Russia is naturally growing. Both are. as far as Eastern politics are concerned, of paramount importance, and no issue to-day can ho settled satisfactorily without their co-operation. So here then in the very near future wo may .see Russian and American delegates sitting at one table, the Russians as equals if not superiors of those very • same Americans who in matters of finance and European politics are mighty enough to cut Russia out. That: inny.be Russia’s moral aim. Politically the importance attached to spreading Bolshevik ideas is very much exaggerated by the Anglo-Saxon press. I may not give the name of the Cantonese lender of the innermost circle, who said to mo verbatim: ‘How this pres tige business bothers us (Russia and Canton). AVc even have to put lip with a slock of phrases about the merits of Bolshevism.’ “As far as trade is concerned, it is surprising how little benefit Russia has had out of the, changed commercial conditions. Official customs reports are at hand, but I still venture to guess that of the 100 per cent, of former British trade not more than 15 to 20 per cent, has been captured by Russia. Tlio big winners are Japan and Gciniany, with a small share left t.r American interests.

It is clear, however, that the military situation has undergone considerable change, within the last lew days. It event cable messages convoyed the suggestion that there had been a. revolt against' the activities -d the representatives of Soviet RussiaFor the moment, both diplomatic and military developments l seem to have disappeared in the log of conflicting reports. Nevertheless R is generally admitted that in the Cantonese scheme of things, ’Russians, and Russian ideas have without doubt contributed to any success the Nationalists have achieved. It is implied, if not said by many Chinese, that the whole of the new organisation has been inspired by Borodin, the Russian adviser of the Canton Ctoomment and his staff of assistants. Certainly the new Cantonese army owes its creation largely to skilled Russian instructions and to arms and equipment supplied from Russia. The latest files from London indicate, that how important is tiro influence o p Borodin may he judged by the foremost place he Iras been taking in public meetings and demonstrations, when in speeches he has identified himself wrtlr tiro Cantonese and their 1 aim 9 by using the word “we.” Tire Political Bureau established by the Cantorre.se, certainly corresponds closely with the Russia idea of a department especially designed t / watch and check the doings of other departments. All emits of the Cantonese Army, from tire headquarters staff downward, have attached to. them a branch of this l organisation, whose duty it is to control f ire command, to prepare tire way for the Army by propaganda., to organise labour, and generally to forward the policy of the Ivuomintang. Unquestionably the Chinese w’ 1 ] inevitably discover .that it L w,as

easier to invite the Bed . emissaries to come to the assistance of the Cantonese _ than to tear Moscow’s suffocating grip from I!ie throats of an unhappy and deluded people.