 In chapter seven Townsend details the sheer horror of China 's ongoing civil war . Among the factions competing for power in China , Townsend believes that none of them , neither the leaders nor their men , have any fixed loyalties or higher motivations apart from desire for loot . With every man only out for himself and " China 's microscopically few good men ... too weak to be felt " , Townsend predicts no end to the chaos . Much of the violence , Townsend explains in chapter eight , is fuelled by opium , the addiction of one out of every eight Chinese . Peasants are often compelled to plant opium by local administrators and warlords to pay for their armies , to such an extent that many districts are more heavily planted with opium than food , and all the while KMT officials lie incessantly to the international community about their efforts to suppress the trade . In contrast to the depredations of the KMT and other warlords , in chapter nine Townsend praises the positive influence of the Japanese in China . The Japanese themselves are considered by him to be a loyal , brave , reliable , honest , and cleanly people , and thus the polar opposites of the Chinese . Townsend provides his own firsthand account of the Shanghai Incident of 1932 , which he claims was probably provoked by Chinese aggression , and similarly sees the Japanese decision to invade Manchuria as a fitting response to the " foredoomed contest of covert violence against the Japanese " waged by Zhang Xueliang . Townsend also lavishes praise on the puppet state of Manchukuo as " a blessing to the thirty million or so Chinese living there " which has achieved " stability and well @-@ being for millions " . Townsend concludes that informed observers are grateful for Japan 's role in dealing with an unruly China . 
