The Wanganui Chronicle TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1936. THE CHINESE REPUBLIC

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 242, 13 October 1936, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1936. THE CHINESE REPUBLIC

q-Hi; c hinesc Republic has now completed the first twentyfive years of its existence. To have thrown over an ancient dynasty which had ruled China in a loose sort of way from 1644 to 1912 was perhaps an easy task, but it brought many difficulties in its train. It has been pointed out that the Manchu dynasty started with a child and a regent, and ended with a child and a regent. But the commencement of that dynasty was virile, its end effete. “Every high office in Peking was soon filled with Manchu princes and nobles with sharp appetites for the spoils of office.” It was not difficult for Sun Yat Sen to preach revolution of the doctrinaire type, pointing out that the Manehus were foreigners to China, incompetent as rulers, and out of date and touch with the times. Yet the revolution came unexpectedly to Sun as it did to the Manehus. Railway trouble in Ssu-ch’uan led the way, but it was the accidental explosion on October 9, 1911, of a bomb in a revolutionary house in Hankow which compelled a body of the military revolters to save their lives by prompt action. Colonel Li Yuan-hung was made leader, and the Yangtse was soon ablaze. The Manchu “pigtail” (which was never a Chinese custom but imposed on them by their conquerors) was discarded, many Manehus were massacred, the revolt spread wide and far and after a spectacular upthrust the people settled down to their accustomed toilsome life, fighting for an existence in an over-populated country. The beginnings of the Republic were therefore founded on shifting sand. It was not possible to build a permanent edifice forthwith. The ground had to be cleared, the foundations had to be dug, piles had to be driven down and firmly knit together before any progress toward national unity could be achieved. It is possible that this preliminary work has been accomplished, at least to some degree, during the first quarter of a century of its existence. Looked at from an historical standpoint, the achievement is remarkable. It is certainly true that, the Republic has been catching up with the modern world and has had a rich reservoir of experience and culture to draw from, particularly from the United States ef America and the United Kingdom, but the fact that this culture has been assimilated in considerable measure is the achievement of which the Republic of China has a right to be proud. Recently the Republic has shown signs of internal strength, for not only has the currency been tied to sterling in opposition to Japan’s wishes that it bo based on the yen, but orders for locomotives and railway equipment have been placed with the United Kingdom, and not with Osaki; the Canton Government has been eliminated, bringing the country under o«ne con- ; rol: and the most recent Japanese incident has ended, not in ■i demonstration of force by the Japanese, but was dissolved '\y diplomatic negotiation. All of these incidents go to indicate that Japan is realising that her aggressive policy towards China, might soon have to be modified. It will be difficult to foresee ■.'.hat another twenty-five years will witness in Far Cathay.