GLU Cabinet by affection of
The Secretary of State for Rafi Majesty tovernment. This document is the property of His Britanic)
CHINA
CONFIDENTIAL.
244
July 13, 1926.]
SECTION 1.
[F 2790/1/10]
No. 1.
Memorandum on the Hong Kong Canton Negotiations for the Termination of the Boycott in Canton
NEGOTIATIONS between the Canton Government and a Hong Kong delegation which includes His Majesty's acting consul-general, Canton, are to begin on the 15th instant, and it therefore seems desirable to review the position. The following memorandum has been seen, and revised, by the Colonial Office and Sir J. Jamieson :—
I. Internal Situation at Canton.
The Cantonese claim that there are three Governments in their city: Firstly, the Nationalist Government of all China, as yet unrecognised as such, but which will in due course establish effective control over the whole country; secondly, the Provincial Government of Kwangtung; and, thirdly, the Municipal Government of Canton.
The Government or Governments are constituted on Soviet lines, the time being admittedly not yet ripe for full popular representation. We have no precise infor- mation as to its organisation, but it is apparent that the same individuals occupy a number of different posts on various committees. Recently, for example, the assistant to the Provincial Commissioner for Foreign Affairs was also Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government, being thus at the same time the com missioner's superior and subordinate. The neighbouring Province of Kwangsi is represented on certain committees, and, for political purposes, seems to be controlled by Cauton.
The personnel of the Government, like the rest of Canton, is divided into two groups: the more moderate members of the Kuo Min-tang, who are followers of the fate Dr. Sun Yat-sen; and the extreme left, which may be described as Communistic. The political creed of the Kuc Min-tang is based on Dr. Sun's three principles: Nationalism, Democracy, and the Right to Live. The Communists seem to be of a rather mild type. They do not appear to have tried to put their economic and social theories into practice on any large scale. It should here be remarked that, whatever may be their divisions on matters of domestic policy, so far as their outlook on foreign affairs in general, and their relationship with the British Empire in particular, are concerned, there is, perhaps. little difference in practice between the two factions, which are both strongly Nationalist. The Moderates" may, or may not, be privately prepared to accept a reasonable or progressive measure of concession in such matters as customs allocation, extra-territoriality, and so on, but their public attitude, like that of the Communists, is one of unsparing denunciation of
imperialism and of the "unequal treaties."
A struggle between the two factions has been in progress for months past, but it is difficult to follow its details. The obscurity is deepened by the presence of three other factors in the situation. These are: (a) General Chiang Kai-shek, who is virtually Commander-in-chief, and who controls a fighting force of some 400,000 inen; (5) the Russian advisers and Soviet influence generally; and (c) the strike organisation. It is impossible accurately to determine the true relations of each of these three factors to the others, or to the Government. But it became plain that the contest between the moderates and the extremists had reached a crisis towards the end of last March. According to an account from a Chinese source, the Russians organised a coup against General Chiang. He was warned in time and arrested a number of his opponents, including forty Russians. They were afterwards released and deported, but the anti-British movement was not affected by their removal, and things went on much as before. In the middle of May a conference of the Kuo Min-tang was held in Canton, at which Chiang Kai-shek, in the face of an adverse majority, forced the acceptance of a resolution debarring Communists from holding important posts. Even before this, the Communist head of the Government, Wang Ching-wei, had been eliminated, and Hu Han-min, a prominent Cantonese, who had
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