Evening star., 1937-01-17

New Life Movement" for the good
Of their bodies and souls.
Chang Kai-shek married the beau
tiful Melting Soong. I saw lots of
them during their courtship For
Chang it was really love match,
and Mei-ling regards him with the
awe that is the due Of heroes. Together
they have produced a great team.
Melting Soong is Wellesley girl with
an ability for hard work. Whereas
Chang knows no foreign language
adequately, Melting Soong compe-
tently handles Western literature
| and she even reads technical works.
So Chang is not dependent upon
lazy and incompetent secretaries-no-
body can fool his wife.
S0ongs Gifted Family.
The Soongs are all competent. It
Is remarkably gifted family. There
Is DR.. H. H. Kung. a brother-in-law,
who is minister of finance, and T. v.
Soong. who held that job for a long
time and now heads the Bank of
China, and T. L. Soong. who Is also
smart about money affairs.
They all advise and help Chang
Kai-shek. And then there is Madam
H. H. Kung. the eldest of the Soong
sisters. who is as bright woman as
ever lived and who is called the
brains" of the Soong clan.
When Chang married Mei-ling
Soong, he married into family that
IS as good as an efficient cabinet. And
the Soongs are as brave as they are
competent, SO that Chang is not let
down in emergencies.
Several times attempts have been
made to assassinate Chang Kai-shek.
remember once some enemies hired
one of his bodyguards to shoot him
while he slept. Chang opened his eyes,
looked at the would-be assassin and
shouted. Shoot
The assassin dropped on his knees
and pleaded for mercy. He afterward
said that the generals eyes fright
ened him.
Recent Kidnapping Recalled.
His recent kidnapping by Chang
Hsueh-liang at Sianfu was of differ
ent character. Chang. whom we will
call the Young Marshal" to save con-
fusion. is an unattractive personality
who used to use narcotics, from which
habit he has allegedly been cured. The
Young Marshal inherited Manchuria
! from his father and lost it to Japan.
Subsequently he went into exile in
Europe.
T. v. Soong and other mutual friends
encouraged Chang to permit him to
return to China. Chang actually ar
| ranged for old Manchurian troops
under his control to be placed under
the Young Marshal. So there ought to
be deep gratitude-in fact. such a
relationship should involve filial piety,
according to the Chinese Sages.
Now, it is all nonsense to suggest
that the kidnapping took place because
the Young Marshal wanted Chang
Kai-shek to adopt a violently anti
Japanese policy. Nor do 1 believe that
he wanted Chang to tie up with Soviet
Russia.
AS far as the facts are available,
the Young Marshal held Chang up
| for better district for his armies,
where more taxes can be collected, and
where he would be more important
| figures in current Chinese affairs.
Face-Saving Compromise Seen.
And I should imagine that Chang
treated him with contempt, but that
T. v. Soong and w. H. Donald, both
Of whom are in large measure re-
sponsible for the Young Marshal, be-
cause they spoke so we'll Of him to
Chang, worked out some face-saving
compromise.
In such an affair, the Young Mar
shall had confederates who are now
undoubtedly betrayed. For few of the
troops in Sianfu were his, and the
other commanders have lost both
Chang Kai-shek and the benefits
that came from the kidnapping At
the same time. am sure the Chang
Kai-shek got away without q specific
promise, for time and public opinion
worked in his favor.
Had Chang Kai-shek been killed,
it would have been an embarrassment
to both Japan and Soviet Russia.
They do not want war; both want to
dominate China.
And Chang Kai-shek stands be-
tween them. placidly balancing one
against the other. The greatest dam
ger lay in that, and not in domestic
Chinese politics.
HriotafoI vHIro rf
self blame which both men utter can
mean only one thing. Chang Kai-
shek wants the humiliating episode
forgotten.
But he will never forget the Young
Marshal. Some day he will send him
in exile again-perhaps to study mill
tary forces abroad. or even to study
the American method Of growing soya
beans
What Chang must marvel at most,
however, is that the Nanking govern
ment held firm during his kidnapping.
I am sure he could not have dreamed
that the government would not COL
lapse. Chinese governments usually
collapse before the criticisms of small
groups Of students.
Chiang's government held in the
face of a humiliating kidnapping. 1t
means that the government has come
of age. 1t possesses real power. That
will be noted all over China. but even
more in Japan and Soviet Russia. And
as q result, Chiang's power will be
greatly increased both at home and
abroad.
Now, China is all messed up. She
has lost territory to Japan and to
Soviet Russia. Queer things happen
there, because China Is going through
long revolution that has already
lasted nearly q century. But Chang
Kai-shek is the first really competent,
brave and efhcient person to head a
Chinese government. He has lots Of
frightful faults-but so had Napoleon.
Perhaps that Is why Chang Kai-shek
used to b called the ''Ninspe Ma.
polsou."