WAR IN CHINA: Wang Purged

No secret has it been that Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Government has long needed a housecleaning. Inefficiency, corruption, jealousy and nepotism— old Chinese official vices—have hampered China in waging her war almost as much as lack of guns and ammunition. Japan having seized most of China's coastline and the Chinese having been driven far westward, it was in character that some of China's leaders should turn defeatist and respond to the lure of Japanese offers of position and gold.

Fortnight ago former Premier Wang Ching-wei, prominent Nationalist Party leader and member of China's United Resistance Front, suddenly flew from Chungking, the temporary capital, to Hanoi, capital of French Indo-China. From there, it was reported last week, he sent a telegram to Generalissimo Chiang declaring that Japanese "proposals" of late December (which, if accepted, would have made China a Japanese puppet state) constituted a "fair" basis for peace discussion.

Some Far Eastern observers, who knew the devious methods of Oriental politics figured this was a mere "trial balloon" of the Generalissimo. This week, however, this notion was set at rest. At a meeting in Chungking Mr. Wang was read out of the party for "deserting his post and suing for peace in contradiction to national policy." Some 200 Wang followers were arrested.