Report of the Commission of Enquiry/Chapter 1
Chapter I.
OUTLINE OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN CHINA.
A knowledge of antecedent conditions necessary to a complete understanding of the present conflict.The events of September 18th, 1931, which first brought the present conflict to the notice of the League of Nations, were but the outcome of a long chain of minor occasions of friction, indicating a growing tension in the relations between China and Japan. A knowledge of the essential factors in the recent relations of these two countries is necessary, to a complete understanding of the present conflict. It has been necessary, therefore, to extend our study of the issues beyond the limits of Manchuria itself and to consider in their widest aspect all the factors which determine present Sino-Japanese relations. The national aspirations of the Republic of China, the expansionist policy of the Japanese Empire and of the former Russian Empire, the present dissemination of Communism from the U.S.S.R., the economic and strategic needs of these three countries: such matters as these, for example, are factors of fundamental importance in any study of the Manchurian problem.
Situated as this part of China is geographically between the territories of Japan and Russia, Manchuria has become politically a centre of conflict, and wars between all three countries have been fought upon its soil. Manchuria is in fact the meeting-ground of conflicting needs and policies, which themselves require investigation before the concrete facts of the present conflict can be fully appreciated. We shall therefore begin by reviewing these essential factors seriatim.
China, a nation in evolution.The dominating factor in China is the modernisation of the nation itself which is slowly taking place. China to-day is a nation in evolution, showing evidence of transition in all aspects of its national life. Political upheavals, civil wars, social and economic unrest, with the resulting weakness of the Central Government, have been the characteristics of China since the revolution of 1911. Those conditions have adversely affected all the nations with which China has been brought into contact and, until remedied, will continue a menace to world peace and a contributory cause of world economic depression.
China first opened to foreigners in 1842.Of the stages by which the preset conditions have been reached only a brief summary can here be given, which in no sense aims at being a comprehensive history. Throughout the first centuries of her intercourse with individual Occidentals, China remained, as far as Western influence is concerned, practically an isolated country. This condition of isolation was bound to come to an end when, at the beginning of the 19th century, the improvement of modern communication diminished distance and brought the Far East within easy reach of other nations, but in fact the country was not ready for the new contact when it came. As a result of the Treaty of Nanking, which ended the war of 1842, some ports were opened to foreign trade and residence. Foreign influences were introduced into a country whose Government had made no preparations to assimilate them. Foreign traders began to settle in her ports before she could provide for their administrative, legal, judicial, intellectual and sanitary requirements. The former therefore brought with them conditions and standards to which they were accustomed. Foreign cities sprang up in the Treaty Ports. Foreign methods of organisation, of administration and business asserted themselves. Any efforts there may have been on either side to mitigate the contrast were not effective, and a long period of friction and misunderstanding followed.
The efficacy of foreign arms having been demonstrated in a series of armed conflicts, China hoped, by building arsenals and by military training according to Western methods, to meet force with force. Her efforts in this direction, restricted as they were in scope, were doomed to failure. Much more fundamental reforms were needed to enable the country to hold its own against the foreigner, but China did not desire such reforms. On the contrary, she wanted to protect her culture and dominion against them.
Japanese comparison.Japan had to face similar problems when that country was first opened to Western influences: new contacts with disturbing ideas, the conflict of different standards, leading to the establishment of foreign settlements, one-sided tariff conventions and extra-territorial claims. But Japan solved these problems by internal reforms, by raising her standards of modern requirements to those of the West and by diplomatic negotiations. Her assimilation of Western thought may not yet be complete, and friction may sometimes be seen between the old and the new ideas of different generations, but the rapidity and the thoroughness with which Japan has assimilated Western science and technique and adopted Western standards without diminishing the value of her old traditions have aroused general admiration.
China's problem vastly more difficult.However difficult Japan's problems of assimilation and transformation may have been, those faced by China were much more difficult, owing to the vastness of her territory, the lack of national unity of her people, and her traditional financial system, under which the whole of the revenue collected did not reach the central Treasury. Although the complexity of the problem which China has to solve may be so much greater than that which confronted Japan as to make unjust any comparison between the two, yet the solution required for China must ultimately follow lines similar to those adopted by Japan. The reluctance of China to receive foreigners and her attitude towards those who were in the country was bound to have serious consequences. It concentrated the attention of her rulers on resistance to and restriction of foreign influence, and prevented her from profiting by the experience of more modern conditions in the foreign settlements. As a result, the constructive reform necessary to enable the country to cope with the new conditions was almost completely neglected.
China's losses from conflict with foreign Powers.The inevitable conflict of two irreconcilable conceptions of respective rights and international relations led to wars and disputes resulting in the progressive surrender of sovereign rights and the loss of territory, either temporary or permanent. China lost a huge area on the north bank of the Amur River, and the Maritime Province; the Luchu Islands; Hong-Kong; Burma; Annam; Tongking; Laos; Cochin-China (provinces of Indo-China); Formosa; Korea; and several other tributary States; she also granted long leases of other territories. Foreign courts, administration, police and military establishments were admitted on Chinese soil. The right to regulate at will her tariff on imports and exports was lost for the time being. China had to pay damages for injuries to foreign lives and property and heavy war indemnities which have been a burden to her finance sever since. Her very existence was even threatened by the division of her territory into spheres of 11interest of foreign Powers.
Reform movement starts after Boxer uprising in 1900.Her defeat in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894–95, and the disastrous consequences of the Boxer uprising of 1900, opened the eyes of some thoughtful leaders to the necessity for fundamental reform. The reform movement was willing at first to accept the leadership of the Manchu House, but turned away from this dynasty after its cause and its leaders had been betrayed to the Empress Dowager, and the Emperor Kwang Hsu was made to expiate his hundred days of reform in virtual imprisonment to the end of his life in 1908.
Fall of the Manchu Dynasty.The Manchu Dynasty had ruled China for 250 years. In its later years it was weakened by a series of rebellions: the Taiping rebellion (1850–1865), the Mohammedan risings in Yunnan (1856–1875), and the risings in Chinese Turkestan (1864–1877). The Taiping rebellion especially shook the Empire to its foundation and dealt a blow to the prestige of the dynasty, from which it never recovered. Finally, after the death of the then Empress Dowager in 1908, it collapsed through its own inherent weakness.
After some minor attempts at insurrection, the revolutionaries were successful in South China. A brief period followed during which a Republican Government was established at Nanking, with Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the leading figure of the Revolution, as provisional President. On February 12th, 1912, the then Empress Dowager, in the name of the child Emperor, signed a decree of abdication, and a provisional constitutional regime, with Yuan Shih-kai as President, was then inaugurated. With the abdication of the Emperor, his representatives in the provinces, prefectures and districts lost the influence and moral prestige which they had derived from his authority. They became ordinary men, to be obeyed only in so far as they were able to enforce their decisions. The gradual substitution of military for civil governors in the provinces was an inevitable consequence. The post of central executive could, likewise, be held only by the military leader who had the strongest army or was supported by the strongest group of provincial or local military chiefs.
Tendency towards military dictatorship in the North.This tendency toward military dictatorship, which was more apparent in the North, was facilitated by the fact that the army had gained some popularity by the support it had given in many instances to the Revolution. Military leaders did not hesitate to lay claim to the merit of having made the Revolution a success. Most of them were Northern leaders, to a certain extent grouped together in the so-called Peiyang Party—men who had risen from a low status to higher commands in the model army trained by Yuan Shih-kai after the Sino-Japanese war. They could more or less be trusted by him because of the tie of personal allegiance which, in China, has not yet given place to the corporate loyalty which characterises organisations in the West. These men were appointed military governors by Yuan Shih-kai in the provinces under his control. There the power rested in their hands and provincial revenues could accordingly be taken at will by them to be used for their personal armies and adherents.
Position in the South.In the Southern provinces, the situation was different, partly as a result of intercourse with foreign countries and partly on account of the different social customs of the population. The people of South China have always been averse to military autocracy and official interference from outside. Dr. Sun Yat-sen and their other leaders remained faithful to the idea of constitutionalism. They had, however, little military force behind them, because the re-organisation of the army had not yet progressed very far in the provinces south of the Yangtze, and they had no well-equipped arsenals.
Revolt against Yuan Shih-kai, 1913.When, after much procrastination, the first Parliament was convened in Peking in 1913, Yuan Shih-kai had consolidated his military position, and lacked only sufficient financial resources to ensure the loyalty of the provincial armies. A huge foreign loan, the so-called Re-organisation Loan, provided him with the necessary financial means. But his action in concluding that loan without the consent of Parliament brought his political opponents of the Kuomintang or Nationalist Party, under Dr. Sun's leadership, into open revolt. In a military sense the South was weaker than the North, and was still more weakened when the victorious Northern commanders, after conquering a number of Southern provinces, placed the latter under Northern generals.
Civil war and political unrest, 1914–1928.There were several attempts to reinstate the 1913 Parliament, which had been introduced by Yuan Shih-kai, or to convene bogus Parliaments, two attempts to establish monarchical rule, many changes of Presidents and Cabinets, continuous shifting of allegiance among military leaders, and many declarations of temporary independence of one or more provinces. In Canton, the Kuomintang Government, headed by Dr. Sun, succeeded in maintaining itself from 1917 onwards, with occasional intervals during which it ceased to function. During these years China was ravaged by warring factions; and the ever-present bandits grew into veritable armies by the enlistment of ruined farmers, desperate inhabitants of famine-stricken districts, or unpaid soldiers. Even the constitutionalists, who were fighting in the South, were repeatedly exposed to the danger of militarist feuds arising in their midst.
Re-organisation of the Kuomintang.In 1923, convinced by Russian revolutionists that a definite programme, strict party discipline, and systematic propaganda were necessary to ensure the victory of his cause, Dr. Sun Yat-sen re-organised the Kuomintang with a programme which he outlined in his "Manifesto" and "Three Principles of the People[1]". Systematic organisation ensured party discipline and unity of action through the intermediary of a Central Executive Committee. A political training institute instructed propagandists and organisers of local branches, while a military training institute at Whampoo, with the help of Russian officers, was instrumental in providing the party with an efficient army, the leaders of which were permeated with the idea of the party. Thus equipped, the Kuomintang was soon ready to establish contacts with the people at large. Sympathisers were organised in local branches or in peasant and labour unions affiliated to the party. This preliminary conquest of the people's mind was, after the death of Dr. Sun in 1925, followed up by the successful Northern Expedition of the Kuomintang Army, which, by the end of 1928, succeeded in producing a nominal unity for the first time in many years, and a measure of actual unity which lasted for a time.
The first, or military, phase of Dr. Sun's programme had thus been brought to a successful end.
The second period of political tutelage under party dictatorship could begin. It was to be devoted to the education of the people in the art of self-government and to the reconstruction of the country.
A Central Government established.In 1927, a Central Government was established at Nanking. It was controlled by the party ─ it was, in fact, merely one important organ of the party. It consisted of five Yuans or Boards (the Executive, the Legislative, the Judicial, the Control, and the Examination Boards). The Government had been modelled as closely as possible on the lines of Dr.Sun's "Five-Power Constitution"─the Trias Politica of Montesquieu with the addition of two old Chinese institutions, the Censorate and the Public Services Examination Board─in order to facilitate the transition to the final or constitutional stage, when the people, partly directly and partly through its elected representatives, would itself take charge of the direction of its government.
In the provinces, similarly, a committee system was adopted for the organisation of provincial governments, while in villages, towns and districts, the people were to be trained in the handling of local self-government. The party was now ready to put into operation its schemes of political and economic reconstruction, but was prevented from doing so by internal dissensions, the periodical revolt of various Generals with personal armies, and the menace of Communism. In fact, the Central Government had repeatedly to fight for its very existence.
The authority of the Central Government challenged from without and weakened by dissensions within.For a time unity was maintained on the surface. But not even the semblance of unity could be preserved when powerful war lords concluded alliances amongst themselves and marched their armies against Nanking. Though they never succeeded in their object, they remained, even after defeat, potential forces to be reckoned with. Moreover, they never took the position that war against the Central Government was an act of rebellion. It was in their eyes simply a struggle for supremacy between their faction and another one which happened to reside in the national capital and to be recognised as the Central Government by foreign Powers. This lack of hierarchical relations is all the more dangerous because serious dissensions in the Party itself have weakened the title of the Central Government to be the unquestioned successors of Dr. Sun. The new schism has led to the estrangement of influential Southern leaders, who retired to Canton, where the local authorities and the local branch of the Kuomintang frequently act independently of the Central Government.
From this summary description it appears that disruptive forces in China are still powerful. The cause of this lack of cohesion is the tendency of the mass of the people to think in terms of family and locality, rather than in terms of the nation, except in periods of acute tension between their own country and foreign Powers. Although there are, nowadays, a number of leaders who have risen above particularist sentiments, it is evident that a national outlook must be attained by a far greater number of citizens before real national unity can result.
Present condition of China compared with that at the time of the Washington Conference.Although the spectacle of China's transitional period, with its unavoidable political, social, intellectual and moral disorder, is disappointing to her impatient friends and has created enmities which have become a danger to peace, it is nevertheless true that, in spite of difficulties, delays and failures, considerable progress has in fact been made. An argument which constantly reappears in the polemics of the present controversy is that China is "not an organised State" or "is in a condition of complete chaos and incredible anarchy", and that her present-day conditions should disqualify her from membership of the League of Nations and deprive her of the protective clauses of the Covenant. In this connection, it may be useful to remember that an altogether different attitude was taken at the time of the Washington Conference by all the participating powers. Yet, even at that time, China had two completely separate Governments, one at Peking and one at Canton, and was disturbed by large bandit forces which frequently interfered with communications in the interior, while preparations were being made for a civil war involving all China. As a result of this war, which was preceded by an ultimatum sent to the Central Government on January 13th, 1922, when the Washington Conference was still in session, the Central Government was overthrown in May, and the independence of Manchuria from the Government installed at Peking in its place was declared in July by Marshal Chang Tso-lin. Thus, there existed no fewer than three Governments professing to be independent, not to mention the virtually autonomous status of a number of provinces or parts of provinces. Although, at present, the Central Government's authority is still weak in a number of provinces, the central authority is not, at least openly, repudiated, and there is reason to hope that, if the Central Government as such can be maintained, provincial administration, military forces and finance will acquire an increasingly national character. Those, among others, were doubtless the reasons which induced the Assembly of the League of Nations last September to elect China to the Council.
Efforts for Chinese reconstruction.The present Government has tried to balance its current receipts and expenditure and to adhere to sound financial principles. Various taxes have been consolidated and simplified. In default of a proper budgetary system, an annual statement has been issued by the Ministry of Finance. A Central Bank has been established. A National Financial committee has been appointed, which includes among its members influential representatives of banking and commercial interests. The Ministry of Finance is also trying to supervise the finances of the provinces, where the methods of raising taxes are often still highly unsatisfactory. For all these measures the Government is entitled to credit. It has, however, been forced by recurrent civil wars to increase its domestic indebtedness by about a billion dollars (silver) since 1927. Lack of funds has prevented it from executing its ambitious plans of reconstruction, or completing the improvement of communications which is so vitally necessary for the solution of most of the country's problems. In many things, no doubt, the Government has failed, but it has already accomplished much.
Nationalism.The nationalism of modern China is a normal aspect of the period of political transition through which the country is passing. National sentiments and aspirations of a similar kind would be found in any country placed in the same position. But, in addition to the natural desire to be free from any outside control in a people that has become conscious of national unity, the influence of the Kuomintang has introduced into the nationalism of China an additional and abnormal tinge of bitterness against all foreign influences, and has expanded its aims so as to include the liberation of all Asiatic people still subject to "imperialistic oppression." This is partly due to the slogans of its early communistic connection. Chinese nationalism to-day is also permeated by memories of former greatness, which it desires to revive. It demands the return of leased territories, of administrative and other not purely commercial rights exercised by a foreign agency in railway areas, of administrative rights in concessions and settlements, and of extra-territorial rights which imply that foreigners are not amenable to Chinese laws, law courts and taxation. Public opinion is strongly opposed to the continuance of these rights, which are regarded as a national humiliation.
Attitude of foreign Powers on the subject of extraterritoriality.Foreign Powers have in general taken a sympathetic attitude towards these desires. At the Washington Conference, 1921–22, they were admitted to be acceptable in principle, though there was divergence of opinion as to the best time and method of giving effect to them. It was felt that an immediate surrender of such rights would impose upon China the obligation to provide administration, police and justice of a standard which, owing to financial and other internal difficulties, she could not at present attain. The present single issue of extra-territoriality might lead to a number of separate issues with foreign Powers if the former were abolished prematurely. It was also felt that international relations would not improve but would deteriorate if foreign nationals were to be exposed to the same unjust treatment and extortionate taxation as Chinese citizens were subjected to in so many parts of the country. In spite of these reservations, much was actually accomplished, especially at Washington, or as a result of that Conference. China has recovered two out of five leased territories, many concessions, administrative rights in the area of the Chinese Eastern Railway, Customs autonomy, and postal rights. Many treaties on the basis of equality have also been negotiated.
Having started upon the road of international co-operation for the purpose of solving her difficulties, as was done at Washington, China might have made more substantial progress in the ten years that have since elapsed had she continued to follow that road. She has only been hampered by the virulence of the anti-foreign propaganda which has been pursued. In two particulars has this been carried so far as to contribute to the creation of the atmosphere in which the present conflict arose—namely, the use made of the economic boycott, to which reference is made in Chapter VII, and the introduction of anti-foreign propaganda into the schools.
Nationalism in the schools.It is provided in the Provisional Constitution of China promulgated on June 1st, 1931,[2] that "the Three Principles of the People shall be the basic principles of education in the Republic of China". The ideas of Dr. Sun Yat-sen are now taught in the schools as if they had the same authority as that of the Classics in former centuries. The sayings of the master receive the same veneration as the sayings of Confucius received in the days before the Revolution. Unfortunately, however, more attention has been given to the negative than to the constructive side of nationalism in the education of the young. A perusal of the text-books used in the schools leaves the impression on the mind of a reader that their authors have sought to kindle patriotism with the flame of hatred, and to build up manliness upon a sense of injury. As a result of this virulent anti-foreign propaganda, begun in the schools and carried through every phase of public life, the students have been induced to engage in political activities which sometimes have culminated in attacks on the persons, homes or offices of Ministers and other authorities, and in attempts to overthrow the Government. Unaccompanied by effective internal reforms or improvements in national standards, this attitude tended to alarm the foreign Powers and to increase their reluctance to surrender the rights which are at the moment their only protection.
Problems of law and order: Necessity of adequate communications.In connection with the problems of maintaining law and order, the present inadequate means of communication in China is a serious handicap. Unless communications are sufficient to ensure prompt transportation of national forces, the safeguarding of law and order must largely, if not completely, be entrusted to provincial authorities, who, on account of the distance of the Central Government, must be allowed to use their own judgment in handling provincial affairs. Under such conditions, independence of mind and action may easily cross the boundary of law, with the result that the province gradually takes on the aspect of a private estate. Its armed forces are also identified with their commander, not with the nation.
Local armies.The transfer of a commander from one army to another by order of the Central Government is, in many cases, impossible. The danger of civil war must continue to exist so long as the Central Government lacks the material means to make its authority swiftly and permanently felt all over the country.
Banditry.The problem of banditry, which may be traced throughout the history of China, and which exists to-day in all parts of the country, is subject to the same considerations. Banditry has always existed in China and the administration has never been able to suppress it thoroughly. Lack of proper communications was one of the reasons which prevented the administration from getting rid of this evil, which increased or decreased according to changing Circumstances. Another contributing cause is to be found in the local uprisings and rebellions which have often occurred in China, especially as a result of maladministration. Even after the successful suppression of such rebellions, bandit gangs recruited from the ranks of the rebels often remained active in parts of the country. This was specially the case in the period following the suppression of the Taiping rebellion (1850–1865). In more recent times, bandits have also originated from the ranks of unpaid soldiers who were not able to find other means of living and had been accustomed to looting during the civil wars in which they had taken part.
Other causes which have given rise to an increase of banditry in parts of China were floods and droughts. These are more or less regular occurrences, and they have always brought famine and banditry in their wake. The problem has been further aggravated by the pressure of a rapidly increasing population. In congested areas, normal economic difficulties were still further increased and, amongst people living on a bare subsistence level with no margin to meet times of crisis, the slightest deterioration in the conditions of life might bring large numbers to the point of destitution. Banditry, therefore, has been largely influenced by the prevailing economic conditions. In prosperous periods or districts it has diminished, but where for any of the reasons mentioned the struggle for existence was intensified or the political conditions were disturbed it was sure to increase. When once banditry had become well established in any area, its suppression by force was rendered difficult because of the defective communications in the interior of the country. It is in regions which are difficult of access, where a few miles may involve days of travel, that large armed bands can move freely, appearing and disappearing suddenly, without their abodes and movements being known. When bandit suppression has been long neglected, and when the soldiers even co-operate with bandits secretly, as has happened often enough, traffic along highways and waterways is interfered with. Such occurrences can only be stopped by adequate police forces. In the districts of the interior, bandit suppression is much more difficult, because guerilla warfare inevitably develops.
Communism a challenge to the authority of the Central Government.But, though the personal armies of local Generals and the prevalence of bandit hordes throughout the country may disturb the internal peace of the country, they are no longer a menace to the authority of the Central Government as such. There is, however, a menace of this kind from another source—namely, Communism.
Origin of Communism in China, 1921.The communist movement in China, during the first years of its existence, remained restricted within intellectual and labour circles, where the doctrine gained considerable influence in the period 1919-1924. Rural China was, at that time, scarcely touched by this movement. The manifesto of the Soviet Government of July 25th, 1919, declaring its willingness to renounce all privileges "extorted" from China by the former Tsarist Government, created a favourable impression throughout China, especially amongst the intelligentsia. In May 1921, the "Chinese Communist Party" was formally constituted. Propaganda was especially conducted in labour circles at Shanghai, where red syndicates were organised. In June 1922, at its second congress, the Communist Party, which did not then number more than three hundred members, decided to ally itself with the Kuomintang. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, although opposed to the Communist doctrine, was prepared to admit individual Chinese Communists into the party. In the autumn of 1922, the Soviet Government sent a Mission to China, headed by Mr. Joffe. Important interviews, which took place between him and Dr. Sun resulted in the joint declaration of January 26th, 1923, by which assurance was given of Soviet sympathy and support to the cause of the national unification and independence of China. It was explicitly stated, on the other hand, that the Communist organisation and the Soviet system of government could not be introduced at that time under the conditions prevailing in China. Following this agreement, a number of military and civil advisers were sent from Moscow by the end of 1923, and "undertook, under the control of Dr. Sun, the modification of the internal organisation of the Kuomintang and of the Cantonese Army".
At the first National Congress of the Kuomintang, convened in March 1924, the admission of Chinese Communists into the party was formally agreed to, on condition that such members should not take any further part in the preparation of the proletarian revolution. The period of tolerance with regard to Communism thus began.
Period of tolerance with regard to Communism, 1924–1927.This period lasted from 1924 until 1927. Early in 1924 the Communists counted about 2,000 adherents, and red syndicates approximately 60,000 members. But the Communists soon acquired enough influence inside the Kuomintang to raise anxiety amongst the orthodox members of the party. They presented to the Central Committee, at the end of 1926, a proposal going so far as to include the nationalisation of all landed properties except those belonging to workmen, peasants or soldiers; the re-organisation of the Kuomintang; the elimination of all military leaders hostile to Communism; and the arming of 20,000 Communists and 50,000 workmen and peasants. This proposal, however, was defeated, and the Communists ceased to support the intended campaign of the Kuomintang against the Northern militarists, although they had previously been most active in the organisation of the Nationalist forces. Nevertheless, at a later stage, they joined in it, and when the Northern Expedition reached Central China and established a Nationalist Government at Wu-Han in 1927, the Communists succeeded in obtaining a controlling position in it, as the Nationalist leaders were not prepared to join issue with them until their own forces had occupied Nanking and Shanghai. The Wu-Han Government put into operation in the provinces of Hunan and Hupeh a series of purely communistic measures. The Nationalist Revolution was almost on the point of being transformed into a Communist Revolution.
Break between Kuomintang and Communism, 1927.The Nationalist leaders at last decided that Communism had become too serious a menace to be tolerated any longer. As soon as they were firmly established at Nanking, where another National Government was constituted on April 10th, 1927, a proclamation was issued in which the Nanking Government ordered the immediate purification of the Army and the Civil Service from Communism. On July 15th, the majority of the Central Executive of the Kuomintang at Wu-Han, who had so far refused to join the Nationalist leaders at Nanking, adopted a resolution excluding Communists from the Kuomintang and ordering the Soviet advisers to leave China. As a result of this decision, the Kuomintang regained its unity and the Government at Nanking became generally recognised by the party.
Affairs of Nanchang and Canton.During the period of tolerance, several military units had been gained to the Communist cause. These had been left in the rear, mostly in Kiangsi Province, when the Nationalist Army was marching to the North. Communist agents were sent to co-ordinate these units and to persuade them to take action against the National Government. On July 30th, 1927, the garrison at Nanchang, the capital of Kiangsi Province, together with some other military units, revolted and subjected the population to numerous excesses. However, on August 5th, they were defeated by the Government forces and withdrew to the South. On December 11th, a Communist rising at Canton delivered control of the city for two days into their hands. The Nanking Government considered that official Soviet agents had actively participated in these uprisings. An order of December 14th, 1927, withdrew the exequatur of all the consuls of the U.S.S.R. residing in China.
Continuation of armed struggle with the Communist armies.The recrudescence of civil war favoured the growth of Communist influence in the period between 1928 and 1931. A Red army was organised, and extensive areas in Kiangsi and Fukien were sovietised. Only in November 1930, shortly after the defeat of a powerful coalition of Northern militarists, was the Central Government able to take up the suppression of Communism in earnest. The Communist forces had operated in parts of Kiangsi and Hunan Provinces and were then reported to have caused in two or three months the loss of 200,000 lives and of property valued at about one billion dollars (silver). They had now become so strong that they were able to defeat the first and frustrate the second expedition sent against them by the Government. The third expedition, directed by the Commander-in-Chief, General Chiang Kai-shek, defeated the Communist armies in several encounters. By the middle of July 1931, the most important Communist strongholds had been taken, and their forces were in full retreat towards Fuken.
Whilst constituting a political commission to re-organise the areas which had been devastated, General Chiang Kai-shek pursued the Red armies, and drove them into the mountainous region north-east of Kiangsi.
The Nanking Government was thus on the point of putting the principal Red army out of action, when events occurred in different parts of China which obliged them to suspend this offensive and to withdraw a large part of their troops. In the North had occurred the rebellion of General Shih Yu-san, supported by a hostile intervention on the part of the Cantonese troops in the province of Hunan; simultaneously with this intervention came the events of September 18th at Mukden. Encouraged by these circumstances, the Reds resumed the offensive, and before long the fruits of the victorious campaign were almost completely lost.
Present extent of Communist organisations.Large parts of the provinces of Fukien and Kiangsi, and parts of Kwangtung, are reliably reported to be completely sovietised. Communist zones of influence are far more extensive. They cover a large part of China south of the Yangtze, and parts of the provinces of Hupeh, Anhwei, and Kiangsu north of that river. Shanghai has been the centre of Communist propaganda. Individual sympathisers with Communism may probably be found in every town in China. So far, two provincial Communist governments only have been organised in Kiangsi and Fukien, but the number of minor Soviets runs into hundreds. The Communist government itself is formed by a committee elected by a congress of local workers and peasants. It is, in reality, controlled by representatives of the Chinese Communist Party, which sends out trained men for that purpose, a large number of whom have been previously trained in the U.S.S.R. Regional Committees, under the control of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, in their turn control provincial Committees and these, again, district committees, and so on, down to the Communist cells organised in factories, schools, military barracks, etc.
Methods employed by the Communists.When a district has been occupied by a Red army, efforts are made to sovietise it, if the occupation appears to be of a more or less permanent nature. Any opposition from the population is suppressed by terrorism. A Communist government, as described above, is then established. The complete organisation of such governments comprises: Commissariats for Internal Affairs, for the struggle against the anti-revolutionaries (G.P.U.), for Financial Affairs, for Rural Economy, for Education, for Hygiene, for Post and Telegraph, for Communications; and Committees for Military Affairs and for the control of workmen and peasants. Such elaborate government organisations exist only in completely sovietised districts.
Elsewhere the organisation is much more modest.
The programme of action consists in the cancellation of debts, the distribution amongs landless proletarians and small farmers of land forcibly seized, either from large private owners or from religious institutions, such as temples, monasteries and churches. Taxation is simplified; the peasants have to contribute a certain part of the produce of their lands. With a view to the improvement of agriculture, steps are taken to develop irrigation, rural credit systems, and co-operatives. Public schools, hospitals and dispensaries may also be established.
Thus the poorest farmers derive considerable benefit from Communism, whereas the rich and middle-class landowners, merchants and local gentry are completely ruined, either by immediate expropriation or by levies and fines, and, in applying its agrarian programme, the Communist Party expects to gain the support of the masses. In this respect, its propaganda and action have met with considerable success, notwithstanding the fact that Communist theory conflicts with the Chinese social system. Existing grievances resulting from oppressive taxation, extortion, usury and pillage by soldiery or bandits were fully exploited. Special slogans were employed for farmers, workmen, soldiers and intellectuals, with variations specially adapted to women.
Special character of Communism in China.Communism in China not only means, as in most countries other than the U.S.S.R., either a political doctrine held by certain members of existing parties, or the organisation of a special party to compete for power with other political parties. It has become an actual rival of the National Government. It possesses its own law, army and government, and its own territorial sphere of action. For this state of affairs there is no parallel in any othercountry. Moreover, in China, the disturbance created by the Communist war is made more serious by the fact that the country is going through a critical period of internal reconstruction, still further complicated during the last eleven months by an external crisis of exceptional gravity. The National Government seems to be determined to regain the control of the districts under Communist influence, and to pursue in those districts, once their recovery is achieved, a policy of economic rehabilitation; but in its military campaigns, apart from difficulties aleady mentioned, both internal and external, it is hampered by lack of funds and defective communications. The problem of Communism in China is thus linked up with the larger problem of national reconstruction.
In the summer of 1932, important military operations, having for their object a final suppression of the Red resistance, were announced by the Government of Nanking. They were commenced and, as stated above, were to have been accompanied by a thorough social and administrative reorganisation of the recaptured regions, but up to the present no important results have been announced.
Effect of these conditions upon Sino-Japanese relations.So far as Japan is China's nearest neighbour and largest customer, she has suffered more than any other Power from the lawless conditions described in this chapter. Over two-thirds of the foreign residents in China are Japanese, and the number of Koreans in Manchuria is estimated at about 800,000. She has more nationals, therefore, than any other Power, who would suffer if they were made amenable to Chinese law, justice and taxation under present conditions.
Japan felt it impossible to satisfy Chinese aspirations so long as satisfactory safeguards to take the place of her Treaty rights could not be hoped for. Her interests in China, and more especially in Manchuria, began to be more prominently asserted as those of the other major Powers receded into the background. Japan's anxiety to safeguard the life and property of her subjects in China caused her to intervene repeatedly in times of civil war or of local disturbances. Such action was bitterly resented by China, especially when it resulted in an armed clash such as occurred in 1928 at Tsinan. In recent years, the claims of Japan have come to be regarded in China as constituting a more serious challenge to national aspirations than the rights of all the other Powers taken together.
International interest in the problems of Chinese reconstruction.This issue, however, though affecting Japan to a greater extent than other Powers, is not a Sino-Japanese issue alone. China demands immediately the surrender of certain exceptional powers and privileges because they are felt to be derogatory to her national dignity and sovereignty. The foreign Powers have hesitated to meet these wishes as long as conditions in China did not ensure adequate protection of their nationals, whose interests depend on the security afforded by the enjoyment of special Treaty rights. The process of fermentation, inevitable in a period of transition, which this chapter has attempted to describe, has developed forces of public opinion which will probably continue to embarrass the Central Government in the conduct of its foreign policy, as long as it is weakened by failure to complete the unification and reconstruction of the country. The realisation of China's national aspirations in the field of foreign relations depends on her ability to discharge the functions of a modern Gvernment in the sphere of domestic affairs, and until the discrepancy between these two has been removed the danger of international friction and of incidents, boycotts, and armed interventions will continue.
International co-operation offers the best hope of their solution.The present extreme case of international friction having forced China once more to seek the intervention of the League of Nations should, if a satisfactory settlement can be effected, convince her of the advantages of the policy of international co-operation, which was inaugurated at Washington with such beneficial results in 1922. China has not at the moment the capital nor the trained specialists necessary for the unaided accomplishment of her national reconstruction. Dr. Sun Yat-sen himself realised this, and actually drew up an ambitious plan of international participation in the economic development of his country. The National Government, too, has in recent years sought and accepted international help in the solution of her problems—in financial matters since 1930, in matters relating to economic planning and development in liaison with the technical organisations of the League of Nations since the constitution of the National Economic Council in 1931, and in relief of the distress caused by te great flood of the same year. Along this road of international co-operation, China would make the surest and most rapid progress towards the attainment of her national ideals, and such a policy would make it easier for foreign Powers to give what support the Central Government may seek, and to help in the removal as rapidly and as effectively as possible of any causes of friction which may endanger her peaceful relations with the rest of the world.