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himself on not knowing Chinese, he has a very thorough knowledge of every personality of importance in Chinese politics. He started life as a journalist in Australia and later became a correspondent in China for some of the most important English and American newspapers, but he has had no experience of politics in England or America, or, indeed, anywhere outside of China, and consequently has not the broad background necessary for a general political adviser. He has, however, a
of what is right or wrong for China, which I think is often correct. His advice on the whole is probably more negative than constructive. He is in no sense an intriguer nor is he self-interested, though he naturally likes to maintain his most interesting position. He is, I am convinced, perfectly straight and honest, making nothing out of his position and doing his utmost with Madame to fight against all forms of corruption in the Administration. There is no doubt that he is a powerful factor in Chinese politics, and many people, especially foreign advisers, ambassadors and some of the anti-corruption Chinese elements, go to him to try and get things done by the Generalissimo. He describes himself as the channel for all complaints. This irregular and anomalous position that he holds naturally antagonises a number of the Chinese, amongst them T. V. Soong, with whose position I will deal later.
5. It might here be appropriate to deal with the position of Madame in China. She naturally holds a very special position as the wife and confidante of the Generalissimo and as his English interpreter on all important occasions. She is a most attractive and intelligent woman with considerable drive and energy, and she has especially identified her activities with the New Life Movement in Chinese Politics. She is genuinely anxious to clean up the Administration and to make honesty and efficiency the criterion of service. She is accused by some of hypocrisy, since she has not accomplished or ordered the changes that she has recommended in her series of "Resurgam articles. I have copies of these for anyone who would care to read them. These articles contain the most remarkably frank discussion of Chinese administration and have had a wide publicity in China itself. The proofs for them were corrected by the Generalissimo, who is thoroughly in sympathy with the ideas contained in them. When, however, it comes to carrying the necessary changes of personnel into effect, there is some- times a sharp division of opinion between the Generalissimo and Madame. The former is basically influenced by the traditional feudalism of China though he is anxious to see the new China grow up with better standards, whereas Madame wants immediate and drastic reformation. She is constantly exhausting herself in this struggle and threatening to give it up as it is of no use to continue. On the last occasion on which I saw her in Hong Kong, where she was resting, she told me of all her difficulties with the Generalissimo, and said: "You must never forget that he has a truly oriental mind." This means that he is prepared to agree for politeness sake with propositions he has no intention of carrying out, that he will not get rid of old associates who are loyal to him, and that the longest way round may often seem to him to be and may, in fact, be the shortest way home.
6. There is one special difficulty that affects both the Generalissimo and Madame, and that is the Soong family relations; Mme. Sun Yat-sen is in sympathy with the Communists, who are hated and feared by the Generalissimo, and she has not been allowed in Chungking in the past.(") Mme. Kung, the other sister, lives in Hong Kong, and is generally accused throughout China of having made herself a multi-millionairess by speculating with special knowledge in foreign exchange. T. V. Soong also lives in Hong Kong, and associates rather with Mme. Sun than with the other sisters. Mme. Chiang's one completely blind spot is for the Kung family. However much she sees and fights corruption elsewhere, as far as they are concerned her family loyalty prevents any criticism. I should say that on the whole she is a very good influence for China, though her actual powers to get things done are, I believe, overestimated. Her attitude to Great Britain, while not being one of hostility, is apt to be rather bitterly critical in the light of recent events. The only other member of the Soong family who is actively engaged in Chinese politics is the brother, T. L. Soong, who is in charge of Stores and Transport at Peiping and of whom many unsavoury stories
are current.
(1) Since writing the above the three Soong sisters have together gone to Chungking and made a tour of the western areas and the front lines. This is an important political rapprochement.
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7. I return to the scope of my enquiry. While in Burma I was able to discuss Sino-Burmese relations with the Governor and some of his leading politicians. I was fortunate in being able to get Donald to stay one night with the Governor in Mandalay, and we had a long and useful discussion together on the situation. There has hitherto been an almost complete lack of contact between the two countries so far as the ruling powers are concerned, and this has led to a certain amount of misunderstanding and difficulty over such matters as the through road and railway. Now that the air service and road are available between the two countries, it is most desirable that a closer contact should be maintained. I have done what I could to encourage this and the Chinese are certainly prepared to do all they can to create a more friendly relationship. I think that it is most important for the future that visits should be exchanged between the important personalities in each country as soon as possible.
8. The most important matters between the two countries at the moment are the questions of the Burma-Yunnan Railway and the Bhamo-Yunnan road, with which I will deal later under the Transport section. The only other out- standing matter is the question of the delimitation of the boundary over a com- paratively small section in the Southern Shan States. Its importance is that the railway would pass through this area unless an unnecessary deviation were made to avoid it, and there seems to be no reason why this boundary should not be delimited forthwith and thus any present or future difficulty could be removed.
9. From Mandalay we proceeded by road to Lashio, and thence we drove in a convoy of cars provided by the Chinese Government up the Burma-Yunnan Highway, visiting the Sino-American aircraft factory at Loiwing on the way. We spent one day in Paoshan and another in Talifu with Mr. Tan, the extremely capable and energetic manager of the Yunnan-Burma Highway Administra- tion. We visited the headquarters of the Yunnan-Burma Railway construction just beyond Shia-Kwan and then flew into Kunming from Yunnan-Ni in the Generalissimo's plane which he sent for us. We inspected the training school for military aviators under American instructors at Yunnan-I.
10. The whole of the aviation south and east of Chungking is under American influence, that north and west under Russian instructors and influence. The only other operating company is the Eurasia, which is half German and flies from Chungking to Hong Kong (sharing the service with the C.N.A.C.), and also to Hami, in Sinkiang, where it joins the Sino-Russian service to Moscow. 11. We stayed in Kunming for five days, during which we inspected a great number of factories and other institutions, including the universities, and also interviewed the Governor and many other important people. A provincial reception committee looked after us and arranged for us to see everything we wanted to. We were provided with reports at most of the factories describing their initiation and activities. From Kunming we flew to Chungking and remained there for about three weeks, during which I spent five days in motoring to Chengtu, via Nikiang and Tseluchan, with a special view to seeing something of the Chinese Industrial Co-operative movement and also some factories along the route.
12. I was fortunate enough to establish very friendly contact with the Soviet Ambassador in Chungking, with the result that I obtained a visa to visit Russia, via Sinkiang. I was particularly anxious to see something of the latter place and ascertain what was happening there. We were the first non-Chinese, other than Russians (excepting the consul at Kashgar), to visit the province for several years, and I will devote a special section of this report to that province. 13. had many opportunities for long talks with the Generalissimo, Madame, all the Ministers, many other prominent Chinese, including T. V. Soong, as well as the British Ambassador and his staff, the American Ambassador and Mr. Peck, the counsellor to the American Embassy. I also met all the prominent British commercial representatives both in Kunming and Chungking, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and many of the Canadian and American missionaries, especially at Chengtu, where the West China University is situated. I saw a great number of the young Chinese administrators and technical staff, and also a multitude of principals of universities, professors, &c. In the provincial towns I saw the Governors and their staffs and also provincial administrators, mayors, &c. As far as possible I saw everyone who was in any way concerned with the new China, and each one of them was only too anxious to give me all the information
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