162
II.-Despatch of 3rd December, 1926, from H. M. Consul-General, Canton,
to The Governor of Hong Kong.
Sir,
Your Excellency's despatch No. 292 of November 20th regarding the piracy of the S.S. "Sunning" was received on the eve of my departure for Hong Kong where I had been instructed to meet His Majesty's Minister on his way to Peking.
2. I arranged however for Mr. Vice Consul Fitzmaurice to address a letter to the Canton Minister for Foreign Affairs demand.ng the immediate suppression of the Bias Bay pirates and offering the cooperation of the Hong Kong Government in accordance with your suggestions.
3. I have the honour to enclose a copy of the above letter*, which Mr. Fitz- maurice delivered in person to Mr. Wai Yuk, the secretary left in charge of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, at the same time making verbal representation regarding the urgent necessity for dealing with the pirate menace.
4. This interview is doubtless responsible for the article in the Canton Gazette of November 27th stating that if cooperation in the suppression of piracy is offered by the Birtish authorities the Nationalist Government will consider it most seriously.
5. On my return from Hong Kong I called on General Tan Yen-Kai, the Chair- man of the Political Council, and pressed strongly for immediate joint action to be taken as regards Bias Bay and I followed this up by a visit to the Foreign Office where I make similar representations to Mr. Wai Yuk.
6. I explained to both officials that the British forces were prepared to do all that was necessary and that if the Nationalist government were unable to spare troops for the expedition, the presence of a few Cantonese officers or officials would be suffi- cient to constitute a nominal cooperation.
7. I could not elicit a satisfactory answer from either General Tan or Mr. Wai Yuk. They promised to consult the government and let me have a reply shortly, but I gathered that they foresaw difficulty in overcoming the anti-British prejudices of the government supporters sufficiently to enter into an operation which would imply a re- sumption of more friendly relations with the British authorities. They both referred to the recent arrest of Kuomintang members by the British police in Tientsin and stated that the resentment aroused thereby would make co-operation difficult at the present time.
8. I finally warned them that if they rejected our offers of assistance in dealing with Bia Bay and would do nothing themselves, the British authorities might be forced to take independent action as the constant threat to shipping was becoming insupport- able. They both raised strong objections to such a course, however, saying that it would be resented by the Chinese as an infringement of China's sovereign rights.
9. To this I replied that if the Canton Government attempted to make propaganda out of the matter, we should publish the facts showing that we had first urged the Chinese authorities to take action themselves and had then offered them everv facility for a joint operation, and if in spite of all this they still allowed such a gross scandal as the Bias Bay piracy base to continue in existence, they would be condemned in public as a dangerously incompetent administration.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant,
*Printed as III.
(SA.) J. F. BRENAN.
Acting Consul General.