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ELIZABETH SINN
There can be no doubt that there were anti-French feelings among local Chinese of many different classes, feelings which existed independently of any initiative from Canton, but which were likely to rally to any call for patriotism from China.
The choice of the La Galissonière as the first target to boycott is significant. It had taken part in the storming of Keelung and at the attack on the Foochow fleet, and it had carried Admiral Courbet, the man in charge of these operations. It was a symbol of French aggression and a natural focus of Chinese hatred.
Patriotism was recognized as an important factor in the initial strike not only by the Chinese. The Foreign Office in London sympathized with Chinese workers who refused to do work which would further French war efforts, and it implicitly raised the question of whether it was morally right for the Hong Kong Government to fine them for that.55 Questions raised in the House of Commons over the riots in Hong Kong reflected similar views, and the suggestion was made in the House that directions be sent to authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore to refrain from forcing to work Chinese who refused to do so for patriotic reasons.56 When the strike was over, Governor George Bowen identified the feelings behind it as a "common national spirit", and saw its rise as an important turning point of modern Chinese history.57
Of course, the ties between the Canton authorities and local Chinese were not confined to the noble feelings of patriotism. The other forces at work included an assortment of interests. Many local Chinese had business and family ties in China which were vulnerable to retaliation. There was also the incentive of winning rewards from the Chinese Government which could greatly enhance status in Hong Kong. The Canton authorities exerted, therefore, by use of this carrot and stick approach, great influence on the Chinese in Hong Kong who while living and working there, still had their social, political and cultural frame of reference in China.
In many instances, local Chinese were eager to carry out official Chinese instructions. When the problem of finding agents in Hong Kong was brought up among Canton officials in 1884, Chang Chih-tung confidently declared, “All the civil and military