CHINA
391
Good relations were maintained with foreign powers, and in October Wei Hai Wei was formally handed over by Great Britain to China. Negotiations for the modifica- tions of "extrality" between Chinese and the Powers were in progress during the year, but no decisions were made.
·
In the early part of 1931 it was hoped that peace would be arranged be- tween Nanking and the Kwangsi militarists, who for two years had defied all attempts to dislodge them from Nanning. The cause of unity and cen- tralised government was, however, to receive a serious set-back. An extra- ordinarily strong force of communists appeared in Kiangsi, reputed to be one of the largest and best disciplined armies in China. The situation was wrapped in a veil of mystery and the very extent of the victories, claimed by Nanking forces, under Ho Ying Cho, the War Minister, and the President's right hand man, suggested the seriousness of the situation. A grave crisis, which may per- manently effect the course of Chinese history occurred on April when Chen Tsai Tong, the Commander-in-Chief in Canton, effected a coup d'etat, deposing Chen-Ming-Shu, the provincial governor and a faithful supporter of Chiang Kai Shek. An alliance with the Kwangsi Party, the Ironsides and the Northern rebels, under Yen Hsi Shan and Fung Yu Hsiang was concluded, and a rivel "National Government" set up at Canton. The ostensible reason for the coup was a protest against Chiang Kai Shek's arrest and detention of the veteran Kuomintang leader, Hu Han Min, and a propaganda compaign of intensive violence, demanding the resignation of the President was prose- cuted. The new regime at Canton included Mr. Sun Fo, who had escaped from Nanking, Mr. Eugene Chen, as foreign minister, and Mr. Wang Choi Wei as President, though the real power was in the hands of the military leaders. War was declared on Nanking, but the strong 19th Army of Chen Ming Shu, then fighting in Kiangsi, refused to join Canton, and no actual hostilities ensued, negotiations being continued, and, morever, the seriousness of the Kwangsi position, restrained Canton from action that might help the Reds. Chang Hsueh Liang, the Manchurian Governor, remained loyal to Nanking, and the only movement in the north was by the "Grey" general, Seuh Yu Shan, who was soon defeated by the Fengtien Army. The great floods in the Yangtsze valley, on the Yellow River and in Shantung shamed the militarists into keeping the peace while hundreds of thousands were homeless and dying of want and exposure. The extrality question, well to the fore when the year opened, languished owing to the continuance of civil strife and to the savage murders of John Thorbrun, near Shanghai, in which Govern- ment Officials were said to be implicated, and of Captain Nakamine in Man- churia. The outspoken report of Mr. Justice Feetham on the Shanghai pro- blem, and his findings against early rendition also suggested that the time had not come for abolition of these rights. The Sino-Japanese trouble in Manchuria is of too recent a date to allow of useful comment.
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BROADCASTING
I
There are now a number of official and privately operated Broadcasting Stations in China which broadcast daily Foreign and Chinese programmes.
The China Broadcast Association of Shanghai publishes its own weekly "Shanghai Calling"-and has extensive Foreign and Chinese patronage. The follow- ing is believed to be a complete list of Broadcasting Stations in China:
...
Shanghai Shanghai Peiping
...
Metres Power
Metres Power,
XCBL XGAH
Shanghai ... 235.5 250 Shanghai 323
XGT
258
100
100
XGNE
280
50
RUOK
...
XGZ
...
Shanghai 220 250 Nanking
COPP
330
100
280 500
COHB
Harbin
445
1,000
XGZ
Nanking
50
50
COMK
Mukden
410
2,000
XGZ
Nanking .... 100
50
COTN
Tientsin
480
500
XGY
Hangchow...· ·307
750
ZBW...
Hong Kong. 355
250
XGKW
Shanghai ... 260
15
JQAK
Dairen
395
5,000
XGX
Shanghai 370
50
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