Still Fighting

For the past year, the Chinese Nationalist navy has blockaded Shanghai--to the chagrin of Hong Kong merchants who are eager to resume trade with Red China. In May, when the Nationalists abandoned their naval base on Chusan Island, 100 miles from Shanghai, Hong Kong was sure that the Nationalists could not keep up their blockade. The Nationalists vowed that they would. When Hong Kong traders laughed off warnings, sent their ships to Shanghai anyway, the Nationalists threw their Formosa-based air force into the fight.

In an eleven-day running battle, Chiang Kai-shek's airmen machine-gunned and bombed the blockade-running ships, strewed clusters of floating mines in their path. Last week Hong Kong's merchants gave up, for the time being stopped further shipments to Red ports. The Nationalists' score: three ships sunk, two ships damaged, one ship captured. The casualties included vessels flying the British, Panamanian, Norwegian and Greek flags. By week's end more mines sighted in the Formosa straits caused the Communists to close the port of Shanghai to all shipping.

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