Oct. 24.
On Thursday, October 13, Japanese troops made their long expected landing in Bias Bay, on Saturday, October 22, nine days after, the immediate objective of that! landing, Canton, was in their hands. A distance of about 130 miles had been covered by the Japanese at.a speed which is ample corroboration of an earlier. formed impression that the Chinese in the south were offering no real resistance to the Japanese, Figuratively speaking, without a shot being fired, the birthplace of the Kuomintang, the starting point of the movement which eleven years ago brought a new government to [China has fallen into the hands of invaders who. in other parts of the country have been meeting just that type of resistance which it was thought would have been offered in the south. At the time of the landing Tumours were current that intrigues had long been afoot for the surrender of Canton' fo the Japanese, and some observers, commenting on the comparative smallness the Japanese force, expressed the opinion' that it was merely a display of strength before which those responsible for the defence lof the South would give up the struggle. The suggestion now emanates from Tokyo {that the whole business has been the familiar lone of the employment of the "'silver bullet, Jand while there is at present no available evidence to support such a view, it must be remembered that this method of fighting is by no means unknown to China. It is true that Canton and the National Government have on many occasions in the past not seen jove, to eye with each other, and that at times there has been talk of secession, but that step was never taken, and it was believed that with the appointment of General Wu Teh-chen as chairman of the Kwangtung Provincial Government, relations would be improved, and that there would be closer ce-operation between the two. Of General Wu's loyalty to the National Government in the past there has not been the slightest] Jdoubt, and.in the absence of proof to the contrary, it is to be assumed that what has! happened has been without his consent or! connivance, Whether this development is the result of jo monetary transaction, or whether it is} entirely due to the ineptitude of the men responsible for the defence of Canton, there cannot be the slightest doubt that Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his Government thave been completely betrayed. The main route of supplies" has been surrendered to the enemy without anything worth describing as a struggle, and the Japanese have been given a victory as important from a political point of view as it is from a military. It is to De feared that the moral effect upon the rest of China not yet in Japanese hands will be bad, for if the people see nothing but a shameful betrayal in this failure to defend so important a spot as Canton it is in the circumstances only to be expected. It is possible that this débicle will have a Profounder influence on the trend of future events in China than is at the moment apparent. Meanwhile the Japanese advance on Hankow continues, and despite the sternness of the resistance which is being offered it seems inevitable that the Wuhian cities 1 sooner or later be added to the Japanese gains, When that does come about, it will certainly be by nothing so blameworthy as the failure to defend Canton, for along the Yangtze the Chinese have fought in a manner} which does them the greatest honour. Con-fioting rumours as to the whereabouts General Chiang Kai-shek and his immediate supporters have given rise to a report, at present unconfirmed, that they are at Hongkong seeking to discuss peace terms. It {to be hoped that there is some truth in the reports, for if there are any other sections of China as disloyal to the National Government as Canton appears to have been, the only thing left is to make the best terms possible with Japan. Whatever chances China had of winning the planned long-drawn-out war must disappear in view of the patent fact that the unity which is an imperative necessity for such a scheme can no longer be depended upon.
Talk of the Chinese putting up some sort of resistance northwest of Canton is not impressive. The main object of the Japanese in South China has been achieved, the main remaining channel for much needed supplies Ihas passed to enemy control, and the Japanese can now decide for themselves whether they need to push further into the interior! from the south or remain quietly in command of the situation as it stands. In the circumstances there can be no possible harm in seeking to discover whether third Power} mediation at this juncture has any chance of success, Admittedly the situation is complicated by the oft-repeated Japanese intention of having no negotiations with Chiang Kai~ shek. That is a matter upon which Japan could change its attitude without any loss] of face, for it has all the military success] sufficient to obviate that, Nevertheless the [Chinese Government is still not without bar gaining points. The possibility of continuing] years of guerilla warfare, involving Japan.
the employment of very large forces. men, and the expenditure of huge sums of! money cannot lightly be dismissed, and it ig still very much in Japan's own interests that these hostilities should be brought to an early conclusion. Mr. Wang Ching-wel's statement that China might accept Japan's terms if they do not hamper China's national existence is admittedly not new, but the fact that it has been reiterated at such a juncture can be taken as leaving the door open for' some sort of negotiations between the two countries. It may reasonably be expected that the Japanese terms will be stiffer now than they might have been after the capture of Nanking, and China may be faced with the necessity of saving whatever is possible out of the wreck. On the general showing there is plenty of evidence demonstrating that the best interests of both nations would be served by effecting an "early peace, and ft ought to be possible to devise means bringing them both into conference. Japan very obviously is in no position to dictate a peace, and the Chinese leaders at present certainly not disposed to accept such an one, but even now it ought to be possible to reach a compromise which would restore peace to this unhappy country and to the: millions of people who are suffering so} grievously.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.