ABSTRACT
Haikow, capital of Hainan Island, which lies off the coast of southern China, is normally a quiet city of a quarter-million inhabitants who feel remote from the mainstream of events on the Asian mainland. The number of troops who have funneled through the city in recent weeks is even larger, because some have spread into the Hainan countryside, and a few have stopped only briefly in Hainan before moving on to southern Kwangtung. Hainan Island is one of the least developed and most neglected areas in China. The post-war decline on Hainan has been all the more tragic because a few of the potentialities of the island are widely known for the first time. The Central Government has neglected Hainan, as it has many other areas, by ignoring its problems, military as well as economic. The Central Government has neglected Hainan, as it has many other areas, by ignoring its problems, military as well as economic.
