1
ג
toky
PARAPHRASE TELEGRAM from the Governor of Hong Kong to
the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Dated 28th February
(Received Colonial Office 1.0 a.m. 1st March, 1922)
103
I have been compelled in consequence of constant efforts
to convert seamen's strike into a general strike to
pass emergency legislation giving Governor in Council
power to issue regulations on much the same lines as
the 1896 Order in Council.
The situation is somewhat serious as the seamen's
strike is not an honest economic movement but is politi-
cal.
On the part of the great majority of the seamen
there was no desire to strike but they were intimidated by the threats of consequences, if they did not, to their relatives in China.
The Kwok Han Tong, the political party of which Sun Yat Sen is the founder and head is the organisation at
the back of the strike.
The Government of Canton have already come(?) entirely under the thumb of this organisation which bears a Bolshevistic character. There is practically no doubt that the extremists have the sympathy of Sun himself.
Copies sent to Peking and Canton.
STUBBS.