Nanking and Canton The Canton Political Council has not made
its threatened declaration of war on Japan, but its armies are moving northward into Honan. Despite the anti- Japanese banner under which they march, it seems certain that it is Chiang Kai-shek and not the Japanese whom they are threatening. Indeed, the Japanese are suspected of supporting them, in order to make further advances in North China if Civil War breaks out. The Canton Council is not a government, but only the authority which represents the Kuomintang in the Southern Provinces. By its threats to the Nanking Government it may hope to gain a recognition of its autonomy and control of the armies and financial resources of Southern China ; its armies are also thought to be aiming at seizing the valuable manganese mines in Southern Kiangsi. But the Council'S strength is really not in its armies but in the embarrassment it can cause Chiang- Kai-shek by using against him nationalist hatred of Japan. The Southern forces are now facing Chiang's troops on the borders of - Honan, but the issue is likely to be settled by negotiation and not by battle. If Chiang yields a further ste■ will be taken in the partition of China.
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