The Chinese garrisons throughout Eastern Tibet are suffering great inconvenience and hardship through the long-drawn-out conflict between the opposing forces in Szechuan. When Chen Hsi. ling left the frontier over six months ago he took every available soldier with him. Interior gave risens were depleted in order to strengthen the army he took from the border, and now the Chinese garrisons scattered throughout Hastern Tibet are in imminent danger of annihilation. Fighting is reported at Yenching on the Burmese-Yunnan border and at Konza on the Kansu-Szechuan border. Various Tibetan factions, religious and otherwise, are exterminating each other and decimating the Chinese garrisons. In some places the lamas are fighting each other, in other places the Tibetans are fighting Tibetans and between them they are all fighting the Chinese.
At present the storm centre is around Batang. Fighting of some sort and for some purpose is disturbing'the country north, south, east and west of that town, General Wang commanding the Chinese garrison at Batang has repeatedly asked for help and reinforcements and help has been sent in the shape of rice, but na reinforcements have been sent for over six months. The cry for help is reaching Tachienlu from other parts of Eastern Tibet and ug help can be given until Chen returns with his army to the Tibetan frontier. When and how that, will be no one can say. The prolonged warfare in Szechuan is no doubt unsettling Eastern Tibet, and unless things move quickly and in the right-direction the rich province of Kham may be lost to tha Republic. Roughly, Kham includes everything east of the. Yangtze to Tachienlu. At present this- immense stretch of country is being held by 1,000 daring, resolute, underfed, under paid, underclothed Chinese soldiers with their Tibetan wives. A more dare-devil, die-hard, never-despair army it would be difficult to find. They have an absolute unswerving faith in the ultimate issue and are prepared to hang on, if need be, till death. Batang, Litang, Hohow, Kanza, Dawo—a mere.handful of Chinese soldiers—the question is, how long?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.