Peking, Aug. 31.
The ordinary newspaper reader in [China ought to be very grateful to the politicians of this country who provide us with all the necessary, political excitement and. alarms without causing us, however, any trouble or discomfort, Only three weeks ago the world was, I understand, thrilled by the news, of Mr. Wang Ching-wei's "resignation coupled with his outspoken. tele-fe ram to Chang Hsueh-liang, which according to a foreign news agency was the most important political crisis that had occurred in China for many. years. Yet in spite of these fireworks and the accompany-thing up here before. Chang Hsueh-liang seems to be more firmly ensconced. here ju the North than ever and is not moving out—even "as far as the Summer Palace. He has become the Chairman of some new Military Council the mame of which I confess Thave got troubled to find out, as it will most likely be changed Inext week, This position, however, he has only accepted on the strict understanding that he will only be obliged to hold it until Chiang shek himself comes up here to take tak Moreover, seo from the Chinese Press that Mr, 'V. Soong has sent him a telegram requesting him to come down to Nanking to discuss financial quesible finances that of all. the uproar. political mountains jin China does not seem to bring the mysterious aeroplat jeaptured at Loyang have heard: about halt a diferent versions of this affair, but afier separating the facts from the embroidery the real mystery about it would seem to lie in quite a different direction. The main facts are fairly clear: "The plane which was fitted with three machine-guns was Imported by a German firm in the hope of selling it to the Young Marshal and was assembled at the Nan Yuan flying-ground. But the [deal was not put through, as Chang was not willing to. pay the price asked. Later on, through a certain foreign commission agent here the plane was sold to a provincial gov-fernment—the Szuchuaneso is, mentioned, but T take it, that it really to the Ching Hai authorities whose, appetite for articles of this stare Tnoted in @ previous Jetter—Jand payment was duly ma Therefore a Russian pilot was engaged anda member of the Gor~ man firm went along with him, They left here on the 14th without any opposition from the authorities arriving atthe flying-ground at Loyang the same afternoon, where their supplies of petrol were all ready waiting for them, Nobody seems to have taken the least objection to their Ianding, at that time, and if they had simply filled jup and flown off again, all would have been well. But for some fveason or other the two aviators decided to spend a couple of days Loyang. "in the meantime somebody had, T suppose, let the cat out of the bag and sent news from Poking. Anyhow it was not till the that the military at Loyang took action, arrested the aviators fand confseated the plane.
Fwould seem that any time during the 14th or. 15th the aeroplane could have got away unhindered, The real mystery of this therefore, Jess, where the plane was going tomor what it was doing in Loyang, than why the two aviators should have elected to spend two whole days there.
Tue "Cathay News," a weekly published at" Shameen, is the Intest addition to the series of new publications that have Ibeen produced of late in this part of the world. "It claims to meet the requirements of the average reader, with contents of a varied nature.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.