Chinese Leader's Scorn

For Australia Sidelight on the Sino-Japanese Struggle

THE gesture of Mr. W. H. Donald, once an Australian newspaper man and more recently world-famous as the confidential adviser of Marshal Chiang Kai-shek, in avoiding Australia, and proceeding to Tahiti via New Zea land, was complacently ignored by the Australians* But some day his words may be recalled. He has retired tem porarily from his post in China, and is going to settle for a while in Tahiti and write his memoirs.

“I got a steamer going to the Solo mons,” he told the “New Zealand Her ald” on January 16, “and my objective is Tahiti, where I intend to do my writ ing. No, I won’t go back to Australia.

I left there 38 years ago, and I have never been back. With Australian poli tics the way they are, I won’t go.”

Mr. Donald claimed that the tenacity of the Chinese in carrying on the war with Japan, and immobilising the Japan ese armies, had saved Britain and the Empire from attack by Japan at a most critical time.

He said that, since October, 1938, when they took Hankow, the Japanese had not had even an apparent success, except when they got into Nanning, but they had already been turned out of that.

“They have been defeated in all thrusts during the last couple of years,” said Mr. Donald, “and now they are in such a state that to extricate themselves is almost an impossibility. They are to get no more reinforcements.”

Mr. Donald recalled that Japan had time and again offered peace terms, but Marshal Chiang Kai-shek had never even deigned to consider them. Three times the Japanese had sent peace terms through the Germans, three times through the Italians, several times through puppet governors, and once through the British Ambassador. Chiang Kai-shek stoutly told the British Ambas sador, “There will be peace when every Japanese soldier is out of China—not before.”

Trading With Japan

It was China, Mr. Donald said, that had pricked the bubble of Japanese invincibility. The Japanese had defied international laws and behaved with inhumanity. From his collection of photographs, Mr. Donald produced one of Japanese soldiers practising bayonet thrusts on live Chinese coolies whose hands were bound behind their backs, while a large crowd stood round watch ing.

Yet the Australian and New Zealand Governments were trading with Japan and sending her things to be used against China, he said. Although Japan had joined Britain’s enemies, Australia sent an Ambassador “to take hold of her blood-soaked hand.” But if it had not been for the stand China had made at such cost. Japan would even now have carried out her proeramme of southward expansion to these lands.

“The Chinese feel very bitterly the attitude of the democracies,” said Mr.

Donald. “They have got nothing from us that they have not paid for. The Russians have supplied them freely and done 10 or 20 times as much for them as we have. Madame Chiang Kai-shek once said: ‘lf we can do without Britain in war we can do without her in peace.’

The Japanese army is demoralised, and

another winter is on them. They must be suffering terribly.”

As another reason for confidence in Chinese victory, Mr. Donald told of the wonderful development of the Chinese armament industry, which was now mak ing machine-guns and other armaments on a vast scale. Chiang Kai-shek had estimated that, even if outside supplies were completely cut off, they had enough munitions to supply them for a year.

A request that persons able to supply land-snail shells from New Guinea, Papua, Solomon Islands, and other is lands in the south-western Pacific, will communicate with him, has been received from an American collector, Mr. W. H.

Weekes, of 508 Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Anyone in terested should write direct to Mr.

Weekes.

Mr. and Mrs. W. Wynyard, and family, returned to New Zealand recently after four years in Western Samoa, where Mr.

Wynyard was a member of the Govern ment Service, latterly as Public Trustee.

He worked hard as honorary organiser of the Western Samoa War Fund, and the Fund Committee presented him with an illuminated address.

Mr. J. B. Taylor, who died in Sydney recently, aged 77, was well known in Fiji fifty years ago as manager of some of the CSR Co’s, estates on Viti Levu. He left the Colony in 1919.

Mr. and Mrs. R. E. P. Dwyer, of the New Guinea Department of Agriculture, returned to Rabaul recently after leave in Australia.

Miss D. Blake, who has given 10 years’ service in Papua for the New Guinea Mission, is returning to Australia shortly to marry the Rev. A. Shirley, rector of Pialba.

JOHN was a new arrival in Port Moresby and, hotel accommodation not being available, he shared quar ters with a friend. It was his day to order and have the evening meal pre pared. So, accompanied by his houseboy, he arrived at the freezer and purchased a hunk of corned beef. It was well encrusted with saltpetre and brine and, handing it to the boy, he told him to take it home and wash it. When he arrived home, some little time later, he found that the boy had the meat on the floor, near a pan of soapy water, and was energetically scrubbing it with a brush.

For that evening’s meal, a tin was killed.—H.