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Shantung man, a fellow provincial of Wu Pei-fu. Whoever it is will have to do whatever Wu Pei-fu wishes.
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Wa Pei-fu is the guiding brain of the Chibli party.
He is the strategist, who makes the plans for carrying out the policy. The policy is to reunify the country. This can only be done by force, as may be seen by considering for a moment the alternative means, namely, reunification by conciliation. What do the professed supporters of that alternative method suggest? That each province should be autonomous, which is nonsense. How can there be eighteen Chinas or twenty-two Chinas? These people who advocate such nonsense are political grafters, who want to multiply the number of Governments by eighteen or twenty-two in order that the number of jobs under Government should be similarly multiplied.
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So soon as the new Government, under Tsao Kun's Presidency, is established, the mandates of Peking will be effective throughout the country, which will be administered for a time under the supervision of military inspectors-general appointed by and responsible to Peking Disbandment of superfluous troops and suppression of brigandage will at once be undertaken. Financial reconstruction will similarly be taken up immediately. Within a year there will be a strong Central Government. Tsao Kun is not a clever man. Foreigners would class him as ignorant, as he knows nothing of world affairs, but in Chinese military circles his authority is immense, and his word is law. He leaves the making of plans to Wu Pei-fu, who is very intelligent. The object which the latter holds in view is to make China strong, in order that she may be able to resist Japanese domination. In pursuit of this purpose he insists that there must be an effective national army and navy. good communications, and financial reform, and that all must be conducted by a strong Central Government. He is the opponent of provincialism, but he is reasonable and agrees that provinces must be left to manage their purely local affairs. The question of monarchy is no longer discussed, but the form of popular Government will have to be managed and moulded by a few, otherwise China will share the fate of Russia."
S. F. MAYERS.
(No. 9.) Sir,
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Colonel Orpen-Palmer to Sir R. Macleay.
Peking, April 10, 1923. I HAVE the honour to forward you herewith some notes in connection with a visit I recently made to General Wu Pei-fu at Loyang.
I have, &c.
H. B. ORPEN-PALMER, Military Attaché,
Enclosure 3 in No. 1.
Notes respecting a Visit to General Wu Pei-fu at Loyang.
I ARRIVED at General Wu Pei-fu's camp, some 2 miles west of Loyang city, on the afternoon of the 31st March, and was received at the railway siding by a guard of honour and band and by General Wu's aide-de-camp and secretary. with whom I drove to the general's headquarters in a motor car, part of the spoils of his victorious campaign against Chang Tso-lin last year.
2. The camp is situated about 1 mile south of the railway, and is about 1 mile in length by in breadth. The barracks are built in four parallel lines with ample room between the lines for parade grounds. At present the ground surrounding the camp is entirely open, but if the general persists in his afforestation scheme. it is only a question of a few years before it will be thickly wooded.
Later in the afternoon I was received by General Wu in his office, where he was hard at work conducting official correspondence. General Wu's method of receiving visitors is a somewhat peculiar one, as during the whole course of the interview he was busy reading and dealing with despatches, telegrams, &c. explained to me that he was forced to adopt this method, as otherwise he could not get through his work. I could, however, ask him any questions I liked, and he would endeavour to answer them to the best of his ability.
He
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3. During the course of the interview I asked the general some more or less leading questions regarding those provinces where fighting was now taking place, or where it might break out during the year. The general answered very frankly and, as far I could judge, sincerely.
The following are the opinions be expressed regarding the provinces named :— Szechuan. He thought that Yang Sen (whom he had assisted with arms, ammunition, &c.) would be successful in the present struggle. Yang had some 30,000 men under him, and was making good progress. Even if successful Yang would not be appointed Military Governor. Liu Ts'un Hou would fill that post.
Kuangtung. Sheng Hung Ying, who was appointed Military Governor by Presidential mandate on the 20th March, 1923, had accepted the post, but had telegraphed Wu that he did not think it politic to make his acceptance public at the present time
General Wu expressed his opinion that as long as Sun Yat-sen remained in power at Canton, reunification of the country was impossible.
Manchuria.-General Wu said that the Peking Government had now nothing to fear from Chang Tso-lin as the latter had as much as he could do to protect himself (and the CE.R.) from the Bolshevik menace. He did not think that as matters stood there was the slightest chance of Chang again coming south. and personally, he had now no intention of interfering with Chang so long as the latter remained in his own dominions.
Fukien. General Sun Chuan Fang had taken over the duties of Military Governor having been appointed to that post by mandate of the 20th March, 1923. It was only a question of days before he would be in possession of Foochow: the province, therefore, had now been recovered for the Central Government.
Chekiang. Lu Yung Hsiang, although he is commonly reported to be pro-Anfu Asked if he had any fear and a supporter of Tuan Chi Jui, was in reality not so.
of Chekiang joining any combination of provinces against himself, General Wu
said " no. and gave as his reason that the only troops in Chekiang that counted
were the IVth (National) Division. This division was officered almost entirely by ex-officers of his own IIIrd Division, and he was confident, therefore, that he had nothing to fear from Lu Yung Hsiang.
4. General Wu referred on two occasions to his proposal that the five Chinese gunboats now in Canton waters be allowed to refit at Hong Kong before coming north. On the first occasion he asked me to let him know exactly how the matter stood, and expressed his thanks and appreciation for the action of the Legation in approaching the Governor of Hong Kong in connection with his proposal. That he attached considerable importance to this matter was evident from the fact that on the day following my arrival he again, in the presence of Mr. Pai Chien-Wu, the head of his Administrative Department, asked me to explain in detail exactly how matters stood. On this occasion he stated that in order to show it was his hond fide intention not to employ the gunboats on his behalf in the event of civil war breaking out, he would be quite content for them to be interned at Hong Kong until the reunification of the country was completed.
5. During the interview on the day of my arrival, General Wu received and read a despatch which stated that it was reported on good authority that the Govern- ment of Hong Kong was prepared to make a loan of 2 million dollars to Sun Yat-sen. He was considerably perturbed over this report, and said that if it was true it would enable Sun to consolidate his position and possibly start hostilities, and would thereby interfere seriously with his plans for reunification. He then asked me definitely if there was any truth in the report. In reply I told him that it was nonsensical to think that the Government of Hong Kong would do anything of the kind, our policy was strict neutrality in connection with China's civil wars and internal affairs; at the same time I pointed out that Hong Kong no doubt possessed many rich Chinese merchants, &c., who might be supporters of Sun's and it was possible that they were prepared to advance him money.
6. The 1st April being Sunday, there was no parade of troops. General Wu took the opportunity of showing us the trees which he had planted in the vicinity of his camp and also the bridge now in process of construction over the Lo Ho. He told me that he had already planted 800,000 trees and intended to plant in all some 3,000,000, a somewhat colossal task. He is deeply interested in arboriculture and during the three and a half days spent at Loyang he frequently discussed the various variety of trees that did well in China, the nature of the soil, &c., suitable for
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