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added that he had been authorised by the British Minister at Peking to be a member of the delegation.
On 22nd June the Canton Foreign Minister replied:
-
"While it obvious that the strike still continues to be such a considerable political and economic reality as to make any denial of its existence appear at once evasive and futile, my Government-averse from any view of your reply that may lead to a fresh impasse, and desirous that the issues involved shall be frankly and resolutely faced-is prepared to authorise its delegates also to negotiate with the official representatives of the Hong Kong Government or any other duly appointed representatives of the British Government regarding measures and means of settling the anti-British boycott, which has been sustained by the Chinese people in Kwangtung for precisely a year.
46
If the forthcoming negotiations are to be undertaken seriously, it is essential to clear up two points arising out of your reply. When handing that reply to me you explained that a rule of the British Imperial Service debarred the Governor and Government of Hong Kong from direct communication with my Government or any other Government. As this rule seems to apply à fortiori to the representatives appointed by the Governor of Hong Kong, I am to ask you whether the representatives named in your despatch will negotiate as members of a purely Hong Kong delegation or as members of a British Imperial delegation.
In my The other point relates to the powers of the British delegates. note to the Governor of Hong Kong I stated that my Government was prepared to appoint three delegates with plenipotentiary powers, and I indicated the wish of my Government that your delegates might be vested with equal powers. I am to repeat that any settlement reached by the delegates shall be subject to the usual ratification by the respective Governments.'
IL
Chinese Information Bureau,
65, Belgrave Road, S.W. 1,
June 26, 1926.
(18.)
*Cablegram from the Correspondent of the Chinese Information Bureau in Canton. (Communicated by China Information Bureau in London.)
AK
Canton, July 1, 1926.
The Canton Foreign Office issued the following communiqué on 1st July:-
In continuation of the correspondence relating to the strike and boy negotiations, Brenan, acting British consul-general, addressed the following letter to Eugene Chen, Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, dated 25th June:
Replying to your letter of 21st June, I have the honour to inform you that the British delegation which has been appointed to negotiate a settlement of the anti-British trouble arising in this province will princ represent the Hong Kong Government, but that I have been made a member of the delegation, so that the negotiations may include the anti-British boycott throughout the province, together with any other cognate questions which the Canton Government may wish to raise.
The Hong Kong delegates will be sent with plenipotentiary powers as regards matters relating to the colony, and I, in addition to my ordinary authority as acting consul-general, have been given by His Majesty' Government reasonable discretion in consultation with the Hong Kong delegates to negotiate an agreement.
C
Your reservation that any settlement reached by the delegates shall be subject to the usual ratification by the respective Governments is noted and accepted by the British authorities concerned.
'I trust that the above information will clear up the doubt expressed in your letter, and I may add that it is the sincere desire of His Majesty's Government and of the Hong Kong Government to reach a settlement with the Canton authorities that may be mutually satisfactory.
* Not yet corroborated from official sources.
I have submitted the terms of this reply to the Governor of Hong Kong, who authorises me to state that it is sent to you at his request and with his full concurrence. I shall be glad, therefore, if you will let me know when the negotiations can begin.'
Eugene Chen, on 29th June, communicated the following reply to the British consul-general:--
"I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 25th June in reply to my note requesting information as to the precise character and powers of your delegation.
"I understand your letter to mean that your delegation as a whole will represent both His Britannic Majesty's Goverment and the Govern- ment of Hong Kong, and will be competent to discuss and deal with all questions to arise in the course of the negotiations, of which the determination will be necessary for a mutually satisfactory settlement of the anti-British trouble as expressed in the Canton-Hong Kong strike and the anti-British boycott in the province.
In confirming my verbal statement that my Government has appointed T. V. Soong, K. P. Chen and myself as delegates with full powers, I have to inform you that arrangements are being made for the negotiations to begin on 15th July at the Foreign Office here.
**EUGENE CHEN, Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Chinese Information Bureau,
65, Belgrave Road, S.W, 1,
July 2, 1926.
III. His Majesty's Government and Canton.
Negotiations are to begin on the 15th July between the Canton delegation (consisting of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Labour) and a Hong Kong delegation, of which the acting consul-general will be a member,
His Majesty's Minister, Peking, has expressed misgivings on two points (see Peking telegrams Nos. 203 and 218) :
1. As to the expediency of a loan to the Extremist faction now in power at Canton, as he fears part of the proceeds might be employed against Wu Pei-fu or his adherents. An answer to this is firstly, that it is intended that the Hong Kong loan should be devoted to specific public works of a non-military character, and should be doled out in instalments as a security for good behaviour, and secondly, that nothing except a loan offers a reasonable prospect of the settlement required by British interests, which must take precedence over those of Wu Pei-fu, particularly since it becomes increasingly less probable that Wu, or any of the leading militarists, alone or in combination with others, can succeed in estab- lishing unity and order in China. (In this connection, see Mr. O'Malley's views in Canton telegram No. 25.)
2. That the inclusion of the acting consul-general in the Hong Kong delegation will encourage Canton to expect the recognition of their independence. This point involves, in some degree, the wide question of our future attitude towards China as a whole. Peking's grasp on the provinces is now definitely relaxed. Some competent observers hold that an effective Central Government will not be seen again for a number of years.
However this may be, it is safe to predict that Peking will not resume lasting control over so distant and turbulent a province as Kwangtung in the immediate future. Past experience suggests that even a successful campaign by a northern military leader would have no permanent effect on South China. The balance of probability, indeed, seems perhaps to lie rather in the direction of an extension of Canton's influence over neighbouring provinces. In the meanwhile, the settlement of outstanding questions is urgently demanded, and it is possible that it may prove necessary, in view of claims raised in the past by the local administration at Canton, to revise existing arrangements in regard to
customs revenues.
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