Chinese Upheaval.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 28 April 1927, Page 5

Chinese Upheaval.

A BETTER OUTLOOK. British Minister’s Statement. (Electric Telegraph—Press Association.—Copyright.) LG 17DGxn, Wednesday. Mr G. Locker-Lampson, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, gave a resume of the situation in Chino in reply to questions in Parliament. "He soid: “Military operotior.s between the Northern and Southern forces are for the moment at a standstill. Tile advance of the Southern forces beyond the Yangtse have been checked, and they have been driven back over the Yangtse in tlie region of Nanking by Marshal Sun Chuan-fang’s forces, which have now reappeared and taken part in the operations. Northern troops have not, however, crossed the Yangtse. The Yangtse is for the moment the boundary between the Northern and Southern territory, except at Hankow, where Southern troops still occupy the country north of the river. Meanwhile a serious division fins appeared in the Nationalist ranks. General Chiang Kai-shek, Nationalist Commander-in-Chief, has been dismissed from his post, arid has repudiated the authority of the extremist Hankow Government! wliich is under strong Communist influence. He has the support of the more moderate elements of the Kuomintang, some of whom have joined him at Nanking, where he is reported to be setting up a government of his own. The Hankow authorities have keen placed in serious financial difficulties by the defection of Chi»nk KaTshek, by the cutting off of communications with Shanghai Canton, and by the cessation of foreign business owing to the disturbed conditions and lack of secur-■ ity, either for life or for property. They now control only a relatively small area in Central China around Hankow, and the civil and military authorities in the lower YU n gtse area along the coast are, for the moment, at any rate, on the si^ o of Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Karshek has not made any milita r y move against Hankow, but he has taken action against the extremists in the area under his control. AntrCommunist raids have keen carried out by Nationalist forces at Shanghai, Soochow, Wusieh, Hanchow, Ningpo, Swatow and Canton. Recent telegrams from treaty Ports, he said, show that the Yangtse Valley still remains the chief area of disturbances, and that elsewhere in both. North and South Chi n a the situation is momentarily quiet. In the Yangtse region a stute of turmoil persists, and neither the life nor property of forei£ llers is secure. Shanghai itself is quiet, although trade is stagnant, said Mr Locker-Lampson. On the other hand, reports from Hong-Kong show that in South China British trade is again reviving. The demand for British goods is growing, and coasting trade is on the whole astisfac* tory.

FENG REAPPEARS. SHANGHAI, Wednesday.,. Interest in mid-China military affairs has been revived by a report that Feng Yuh-llsiang, the Christian general, avlio for long has been inactive, has been appointed eommander-in-ehief

of the HankoAV group off armies. Meanwhile the Fcngticn forces, commanded by Chang Hsueli Liang, Chang' Tsolin’s son, are pressing towards Hankow. Feng Yuh-Hsiang’s sudden reentry into the military sitaution must cause a readjustment of the Northern plans. ■ -j -•[