CHINA AND BOLSHEVISM.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 7 December 1926, Page 4

CHINA AND BOLSHEVISM.

Considerable differences' of opinion exist as lo whether the Nationalist, movement in China is imbued with the doctrines of Bolshevism, «or whether it is simply making use of its friends' from Kuss'ia 'to further its own schemes. Of course, the generalisations about so vast it country are dangerous. But, according to one view, while the artful Nationalist* are quite willing to accept assistance from Russia in the s'hapc of subsidies, munitions and military ad-

visers, and while they may offer lip service to the tenets of Bolshevism, they will never embrace the latter. A political faith which is hostile to religion, individualism, and the institution of the family is utterly antipathetic to Chinese culture, which is based upon these three things. On the other hand, it is said that inferences' drawn from the assumed immobility of the East arc unsound. China has changed. It has become receptive to Western ideas, good and bad. The industrialisation of the cities of the coast has brought millions of workers from their native villages, has broken down immemorial traditions, and has created an inflammable and undisciplined class. The spread of education lias produced a horde of half-baked intelligentsia who readily yield'to Bolshevik propaganda. Moreover, Bolshevism does not depend for success upon the conversion of the masses. It is imposed upon an inert majority bv a determined and vigorous minority. Which of these diagnoses is correct/ Is China’s "redness” merely superficial, or have the emissaries of the Soviet contrived to make a real impression on this amorphous, chaotic land, Time alone will supply the answer.