The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1949-10-28
WILL CHINA SURVIVE?

China, the oldest continuous civil
ization in the world, has arrived at q
new crisis of its existence. Previous
ly, its intermittent changes of Gov
ernments have been but change OF
Warlords or a government forced
upon it through foreign invasion. 1t
has not been reshuffling of basic
principles, including the Sun
Sen which later fell into evil and cor
rupt hands. The present revolution
differs somewhat from previous ones
as it started from the grassroots and
spread upwards instead of original
ing the usual way, with some warlord
or from some outside source. You
might say it gets its first noticeable
start with the guerrilla 4th and 9Th
armies, under Communist leadership.
Its phenomenal growth
Under the two mentioned armies,
fighting inside the japanese lines with
captured weapons, with more opposi-
ton than support from the National
ist government, it fully occupied six
ty per cent of the invading Japs.
tung Army's Manchuko arms as ia
pan surrendered, it more than bal
enced the equipment that US hand
ed Kai-shek.
The pattern set by the 4th and 9Th
guerilla army troops spread like a
prairie fire through the Chinese pro-
vinces. AS soon as a town or province
was liberated, it was turned over to
local control, schools and local handi-
crafts were started and the people |
induced to take an active interest |
in local affairs. This was unprece-
denied in Chinese history
While Russia has not taken an act
i've part in Chinese internal affairs
since Japan's defeat, its moral sup
port has done much to keep the Chi
nese spirits up. On the other hand, !.
foreign governments, particularly
the United States, have furnished
Kai-shek with cash, planes and arma-
ments as well as training his armies.
This is not interfering in internal
affairs according to a recent YER
sion. The Nationalist Government is
now between the Devil and the Deep
Sea and undecided as to "What-to-do. !"
Moving up to Chungking would be to .
sever its way of escape; to retreat
to Formosa could be hoping for US
Navy to protect it. Should we con-
tinue in supplying it with ships and
airplanes for its commerce depreda-
tons in China Sea, the new regime
of China will eventually get airplanes
and Snorkels from Russia to balance
the sheet.
China's Plight
China, in its long history, has seen
Nations come and disappear. She
knows what happens when the Rich :
get too rich and the Poor, too poor.
Never before has she had the oppor-
unity she has today, and never be- +
ore has she been in bigger plight Il
than she is in today. With her indus 2
Try and transportation system para =
yzed and her Treasury empty, she is =
n pretty much the same fix as Rus !.
ia was in 1917, but, thanks to Rus L
la, she won't have the troublesome =
vars of intervention to contend with. y
1t will be hard struggle for Chi u
a, even under the best balanced IL
economy. The Peasants will have y
heir Acre, two-acre farms on which y
hey can exist, make living on, and II
eel quite happy, but they can never e
lake much of a showing there unless l'
ney go into Collective farming like
ne Russians did, which gave them to
ne needed man-power to win the hs
FAR. us
In the gorges at Chungking, China tt
as one of the Worlds biggest hydro pc
ectric power sites and, if the Yang fe
;e river is developed, not on the fl,
asteful Pick-Sloan plan, but on a CT
enuine IVA plan, it will be big ca
art in her recovery. Of course, Chi
a needs considerable outside help