CO129-520-1 Chinese situations 20-12-1929 - 27-1-1931 — Page 72

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moment when he broke through the Cantonese defences. As it was Wong Chi-hung held his hand, hoping no doubt

a

to see his ally successful, but successful at such cost as would prevent him thereafter from proving a menace

to his associates. "It is the old failing of

militarism" said General Chan.

15. It can hardly be due to any other cause that

so far no effective coalition against Chiang Kai-shek

has been brought about. One after another disaffected

military men have risen against Nanking only to be dealt with in detail. No one will help his neighbour for fear that such help may upset the balance of power. Neither will any War-lord agree, for the same reason, to put his neighbour forward as the leader of a

coalition. It is for this cause that they have found themselves obliged to espouse Wong Tsing-wai as their candidate for Chairmanship of the National Government, not because they agree with his sentiments, but because being a civilian he cannot, as Chiang Kai-shek has done, attempt to impose his will on them by force of arms. More important still, he represents the Kuomintang, not the orthodox Kuomintang of today, well purged and subservient to the Nanking Government, but the original revolutionary Kuomintang. The Tang has sacured such a hold on the Chinese imagination that no aspirant to high office can afford to ignore it. In future, attacks on the Kuomintang itself from outside are improbable. The struggle for power will take the form of disputes within the party, demands for reorganization, denunciations of bogus organizations, and claims to be the one and only genuine Tang.

But there is no doubt

either