POOR SUPPORT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 March 1940, Page 6

POOR SUPPORT

FOR PUPPET GOVERNMENT LN CHINA A JAPANESE EXPERIMENT. QUESTION OF FOREIGN RIGHTS. By Telcgrapil—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON. March 26. It is reported from China that out of the 260 Government members of the Chinese National (Kuomintang) Party, only six have joined Mr. Wang Chingwei. the leader whom the Japanese intend to place at the head of the Government they are sponsoring. This disposes of claims of Mr. Wang to represent the National Party.

"The Times” (reports British Official Wireless) devotes a leading article today to events in the Far East, of which the most important is the inauguration next Sunday of the “new Chinese regime, to be styled the National Government of China, under the rule of Mr. Wang and the control of Japan.” The editorial describes how “a conference of delegates from the occupied provinces of China and Inner Mongolia, with Mr. Wang himself and heads of the ’reformed’ or client administrations of Peking and Nanking, met last week at the latter city to organise the new Government,” and adds. “They were naturally well guarded, for it is clear that the Japanese Government and army are entirely committed to litis experiment.” Tracing the obstacles which have had to be met in the stage of what —citing the words of its own correspondent —it calls "a carefully planned peace move” which the Japanese Government believes will completely change the situation for it in China. "The Times” says that chief among the many difficulties of Mr. Wang himself was and is the reluctance of many Chinese to regard him as anything but a deserter. But lie had also to reckon with the usual divisions of opinion between the Japanese Army and the Japanese Government.

Commenting on the recent statement by the Japanese Prime Minister. Admiral Yonai, on the new administration. "The Times" thinks that from the point of view of the foreign nations which have important commercial interests in China and are unable to exercise any direct influence in favour of a just peace in the Far East the omissions from this statement are more significant, than its contents.

The newspaper-calls attention to the manifesto which Mr. Wang Ching-wei recently issued in Shanghai in which he stated that foreign rights and interests would be respected and protected by the Government .which ho proposed to form and that foreign capital would be invited to China. It finds ii significant that there was no reference to this in Admiral Yonai’s remarks.