Question

For Americans, the big news from China last week was that U.S. troops were on the verge of a shooting war (see below). For Chinese the big news was Manchuria.

Some observers in Chungking jumped to the conclusion that Manchuria might be "irretrievably lost" to the Central Government. The facts were grave, but not quite so catastrophic.

Promise v. Fulfillment. The Russians had promised to begin evacuating Manchuria three weeks after the end of the Japanese war. Apparently they were keeping the letter, if not the spirit, of their pledge. The Red Army had withdrawn from much of southern Manchuria; by early December the evacuation should be complete. But as the Russians withdrew, an estimated 60,000 Chinese Communists, equipped with Japanese arms, poured in with amazing rapidity; and more were on the way. Chungking's World Daily News asked the $64 question: "Who has made this possible?" The Russians had declined to open Port Arthur and Dairen-Manchuria's main harbors -- to Central Government troops.

Instead, the Russians agreed to a Central Government landing at Yingkow, a minor Manchurian port. But when U.S. trans ports made ready to unload, the Russians suddenly pulled out, leaving Chinese Communists in control. In the face of threatened Communist opposition, U.S. Vice Admiral Daniel E. Barbey withdrew his transports.

The Russians agreed to the aerial landing of Central Government troops (in U.S. planes piloted by Chinese) at Changchun.

But Chungking reported last week that Soviet dilatoriness had "much affected" the feasibility of the landing. That was a diplomatic way of saying that Chinese Communists had surrounded Changchun airfield.

The Key? But Manchuria's ultimate fate was still far from settled. Chinese look upon Manchuria, with its Japanese-developed heavy industry and its strategic position, as the key to a strong China. The Central Government was still negotiating with the Communists for an overall settlement ; if that failed, Chungking would fight a major civil war to re-establish Chinese sovereignty over Manchuria. In the long run, the Central Government armies, especially the crack U.S.-trained divisions, looked like more than a match for the Red guerrillas.

Last week, from U.S.-occupied Chin-wangtao, Central Government troops broke through Communist lines at Shanhaikwan, coastal anchor of the Great Wall. For the first time since 1931, Central Government forces were on Manchurian soil.

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