China and the West

Hemingway, Ernest. U.S. aid will hold China to war front. In : The Examinger ; 2 July (1941). In : The Montreal gazette ; 14 June (1941).
Rangoon.—There are two things you can count on in the present Far East set-up. Firstly, Japan has temporarily lost her chance of making a peace with China. Last year there was a big peace drive on in Chungking, which reached its high point last December. But the aid that China believes she will receive from America has killed the pro-peace movement off temporarily. The U.S. can count on holding 37 of the 52 Japanese army divisions in China from six to ten months for a little less than the price of a battle-ship. That is to say, that for £21,000,000 to £31,000,000 this force will be immobilised. At the end of another six to 10 months, if past performances mean anything, the U.S. will have to furnish approximately the price of another battleship to keep Japanese tied up in China for another equal period. In the meantime the U.S. is arming. Insurance against having to fight in the Far East until the U.S. has built a two-ocean navy that can destroy any Eastern enemy, and thus probably never have to fight, is cheap at that price. Always remember that a powerful enough navy imposes its will without having to fight. Meantime, the pro-peace groups in Chungking will undoubtedly bring all the pressure they can on Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek to have him attempt to disband all Chinese Communist troops. The mechanics of this would be to order the 8th Route Army troops disbanded for failure to obey military orders. If they refused to be disbanded, as they undoubtedly would, they would be attacked. Since these tactics were successful against the other Communist army, the new Fourth Army, there is every chance the Generalissimo will be urged to repeat them. Since the U.S. is interested in having all political factions in China uni- ted to fight against Japan, she can counteract this move of the pro-peace groups by informing Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek that the U.S. is not interested in backing a civil war in China. Red Army Threat Grave friction between the Communist troops and the Central Government has been threatening for almost two years and for a year and a half the popular front has been little more than a fiction maintained for foreign consumption. Since the Central Government receives its principal financial backing from two Powers, the U.S. and Soviet Russia, if those two Powers both say they will not finance a civil war there will be none. The Generalissimo wants to beat the Japanese. No one has to advise him or urge him on that score. As long as he is alive there will be no peace with Japan as long as he sees any human possibility of continuing the war. He can continue the war as long as he is adequately financed and communications are kept open so that sup- plies can be brought in. There may be lack of food, there may be riots against the high cost of living due to the rise in prices under the effects of the natural inflation consequent on nearly four years of war. There will be innumerable stories of crookedness and graft in high places and there will be many proved stories of inefficiency. But the Generalissimo will continue to fight the Japanese under any difficulties that come up as long as he is financed and the war materials that he needs can reach him. Play Japan's Game. Anyone who tries to foment civil war in China or to spread scandal, saying aid to China will only be misused, plays Japan's game. At present Germany can give China nothing. She has not the money to finance her and she cannot send her supplies. But she promises the Chinese the moon after the war. The Generalissimo's army was trained by the Germans. Germany was a good friend to China and the Germans are liked and admired in China. If the U.S. finances and helps China the Generalissimo will fight on against the Japanese indefinitely. The Generalissimo is a military leader who goes through the motions of being a statesman. This is important. Hitler is a statesmen who employs military force. Mussolini is a statesman who is unable to employ military force. The Generalissimo's' objectives are always military. For 10 years his objective was to destroy the Communists. He was kid- napped under Communist auspices and agreed to give up fighting the Com- munists and fight the Japanese. Since then his objective has been to defeat Japan. He has never given this up. Dislikes Communists I think that somewhere inside him he has never given up the other objective either. When you say a man is a military man and not a statesman there are all of his speeches to prove that you are wrong. But by now we know that statesmen's speeches are often not written by the statesmen. There is much argument whether China is or is not a democracy. No country which is at war remains a democracy for long. War always brings on a temporary dictatorship. The fact that there are any vestiges of democracy in China after the length of time she has been at war proves that she is a country that we can admire very much. The trouble between the Chinese Communists and the Central Government will only be settled when the Central Government and the Soviet Union agree on the exact boundaries and sphere of influence of what will be Soviet China. In the meantime the Chinese Communists will try to get as much territory as they can and the Central Government will always nurse the hope of never having to face the fact that a part of China will be Soviet. The Soviet Government backs the Generalissimo with money, planes, armament and military advisers. They back him to fight Japan. The Chinese Communists are more or less on their own. Russia has two horses running in China against the Japanese. Her main entry is the Generalissimo. But the Russians know that it is never a dis- advantage to have two good horses in the same race. At present Russia figures to win against the Japanese with the Generalissimo. She figures to place with the Chinese Communists. After this race is run it will be an- other and a very different race.