CHINA'S NEW UNITY

Commonwealth and Foreign

A VISIT to the capital of nationalist China in late November, 1936, viewed in the comparative perspective of a similar visit almost exactly a year ago, conveys two strong and distinct impressions. China today is a nation in birth. Its sense of

political and economic unity is developing faster than many observers in previous years would have considered possible. This is one's first outstanding impression. And the second impression, aclose corollary of the first, is that China is not now so abjectly afraid of Japan as it has been since the seizure of Manchuria, the lightning Japanese conquest of Jehol and the various acts of aggression in North China. . On this point two bits of concrete evidence came to my attention during my brief stay in Nanking. One was the markedly changed attitude of officials. A year ago any critical remark about Japanese policy was accompanied by

an anxious "hush," an appeal that it should not be cited in any way that should remotely suggest the source from which it originated. Today Nanking officialdom is franker, freer in conversation, more indifferent to the consequences of being quoted. There is also a significant change in the Government's,

attitude toward criticism of Japan in the Chinese Press.

During 1935 anything of this kind was strictly forbidden. A Chinese editor received a severe gaol sentence for publishing

an article which, under a very strained interpretation, could be interpreted as implying disrespect to the Emperor of Japan. There was nothing personal or scurrilous about the

article, only some uncomplimentary philosophical reflections on kings and emperors in general. Quite recently a " mos- quito " newspaper, as small papers are called in China, pub- lished a cartoon showing the three stages of Sino-Japanese.

relations. The first stage, labelled The Past, showed Japan trampling on a prostrate China. The second• stage, The Present, depicted Japan and China as glaring at each other on equal terms. And the third stage, The Future, was repre- sented by a sketch of an aroused China vigorously throwing Japan out of its territory. No punitive measures were applied in this ease, although there was a vigorous verbal remonstrance from a Japanese official.

The new Chinese firmness vis-à-cis Japan has found practical expression in the resistance on the military front in Suiyuan

and On the diplomatic front in Nanking.' When an arnbiguOus force of Mongolian irregulars, who, aceording to the Chinese, were liberally supplied with aeroplanes and other modern weapons by Japan, attempted to overthrow Chinese authority in this part of Inner Mongolia there was immediate and, thus far, successful military resistance. Suiyuan was made a national issue ; and contributions have been pouring in from all over China for the benefit of the defenders of the province. In the begcitiationa 'which were precipitated by several inci- dents when Japanese were killed in varying circumstances in different parts of China there have been two points in which, according to reliable information, the Chinese representatives

asserted a flat non possuntus. One was over concessions

in regard to the autonomy of North China, which were considered so far-reaching as to destroy Chinese sover- eignty in that region. The other was over a common Sino- Japanese front against Communism—a proposal which was first broached by Mr. Koki Hirota, then Foreign Minister, early in the year. The Chinese object to this suggestion on the ground that they are capable of suppressing their own Communists and that any joint agreement with Japan on this point would merely give the Japanese a pretext to dispatch troops to any part of China 'where Communists might be found. Behind this intransigence lies a growing consciousness of political nationhood which is a new thing in China, although the Chinese have always possessed a keen sense of cultural and racial solidarity. What is the solid foundation of fact beneath this consciousness ? There is no dOubt that China today is more nearly united than it has been, at any time since the collapse of the Empire in 1911. The bringing of the Province of Kwangtung, of which Canton is the' Centre, under Nanking's direct administration after a wordy brit blOOdless'exchange Of threats and ultimata last summer was a noteworthy achieve- ment in this connexion. The Chinese' Communists, through the peripatetic guerilla war which they have ,been carrying on ever since they were dislodged from their original strong-.

hold in South Central China, in Kiangsi and Fukien, have indirectly and unintentionally aided the centralising efforts of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. Provinces like rich, remote, Szechuan, far beyond the Yangtze gorges, in -Western China, long harried by war lords and bandits, found themselves obliged to appeal for Central Government troops when they were invaded by the Reds. And along with Nanking troops came uniform banknotes, uniform administrative measures.

Chinese political unity is still shaky and patchy in spots. In the future, as in the past, there will doubtless be setbacks and disillusionments. The whole structure is centred around

the personality of Chiang Kai-shek, and no one knows what would happen if he should be eliminated from the political

scene by death or assassination. The Kuomintang, the _sole legal political party, is a weak, shadowy organisation, not comparable in dynamic force with the Communist, party in.

Russia, or the Fascist Party in Italy, or the National Socialist Party in Germany. There are still provincial "war lords"

or governors, Who must be humoured, _whom it would be 41)7117. cult, if not impossible, for the Central Government to, depose. Yet the trend toward centralisation is unmistakable, and the gains, even during the last year, have been very roarked,1 Several factors, material and human, are working in this direction. The "adoption of a managed currency, uniform throughout the country, has been a tremendous . blow, to, regional financial self-sufficiency. The substitution of paper for silver has functioned quite smoothly, contrary, to some pessimistic predictions which were made when the change

went into effect over a year ago. , The spread of air communication and the growth in China's network of railways and roads are making the country more

nationally minded. The aeroplane now makes it possible

to accomplish in hours some trips 'which would have formerly required weeks. The political establishment of the authority of the Central Government in Canton has its economic comple- ment: the recent completinn of the Canton-Hankow Railway, which opens up a direct land communication between the

largest Chinese commercial centre in the South and the rich Yangtze Valley. The Lunghai Railway is gradually creeping westward ; and it will not be long before SZeelman :loses the

sense of primitive isolation that was formerly the natural accompaniment of the fact that this vast province had not a mile of railway within its borders. On the human side the cumulative effects of a generation of growing Western cultural influence and of modern educa- tion are just beginning to be felt. To cite only one among many similar significant facts, China now has 43,519 univer- sity students, as against 481 in 1911, the year of the fall

of the Empire. The Central Military Academy in Nanking, to which Chiang Kai-shek has devoted much attention, is turning out a new type of young officer, men who feel them:. selves Chinese patriots rather than condollieri of rival war- lords.

Many experienced foreign residents of China havespOken to me with genuine .surprise of the changed conception -of government which is now making itself felt in the more advanced parts of China. Formerly the Chinese magistrate at his worst simply milked the people under his jurisdiction for his personal enrichment. At his best he let them alone, merely administering justice according to Confucian precepts. Now, however, there is a growing insistence from above that, the mayor of a city or the provincial or county official should take Some positive interest in the welfare of the people. Only a feeble beginning, to be sure, has been made in attacking China's almost incredible poverty; but the change of emphasis Is significant.

The new spirit of nationalism that is a product Of all the forces and developments which have been enumerated is bound to be an important factor in shaping China's future, and. especially' in determining the limits beyond which no government can afford to go in submitting to Japan without a struggle: