forces. All members of the Union employed on the Company's steamers at Canton have walked out and
three of their vessels are detained there unable to
unload the cargo brought from Shanghai. A general
strike of rice shop employees is also reported to
have caused the temporary closure of most of the shops employed in this trade, force being applied to ensure compliance by non-unionists.
6.
The so-called Hong Kong and Canton Strike Committee, whose headquarters at Tung Yuen in Canton were recently destroyed by fire, is reported to be about to re-establish itself in new premises on the same site. If this is permitted, it is to be anti- cipated that there will be a revival of the acts of piracy and brigandage by so-called "strike pickets", which have formed the subject of so many of my past
reports. There is, however, a more satisfactory, but perhaps unreliable, item of news in this connection, namely that the Canton authorities have ordered the
arrest of the heads of the Strike Committee, among
them the notorious So Shiu-Ching, leader of the 1922 strike, on the ground that the Tung Yuen buildings were deliberately set on fire, in order to destroy
records which would otherwise have been evidence of
serious peculation.
7.
The wireless station at Swatow has notified
the Government station here of its readiness to resume
normal traffic, and arrangements to that end are pro-
ceeding.
8.
38
The Commissioner of Foreign Affairs at Swatow
has informed the foreign Consuls at that port in an
identic communication that it is the duty of foreigners
trading within Chinese territory to comply with the
laws