Enclosure. No. Z.
Cientsin British Committee of Information.
MEMORANDUM No. 16.
Tientsin, Dec. 30, 1926.
General Chiang Kai-shek (Chiang Chieh-shih) is the Generalissimo of the Cantonese Armies.
He has very seldom given interviews for publication. An interview was, however, granted to Mr. Bruno Schwartz, Editor of the Hankow Herald, and Correspondent of the Associated Press, after General Chiang's arrival at Nanchang, and a report of this interview was published.
Mr. Schwartz has a reputation as a journalist which precludes the possibility of any suggestion that the account of his interview is a fabrication, while his sympathetic attitude towards the Kuomintang Party, of which General Chiang is so prominent a member, makes it impossible to suppose that in translation he has put an unfavourable colour on the Generalissimo's remarks. The Tientsin Committee of Information are, therefore, confident that the report of this interview reproduced below is substantially correct.
General Chiang Kai-shek is unquestionably the most influential leader of the Kuomintang Party at present in power in South China. It is, of course, impossible to say that all General Chiang's associates would express iden- tical opinions. Possibly many of them would be more guarded in conversation with any foreigner than this outspoken soldier. It is certain, however, that no repudiation of General Chiang's statements has been published, and fair, there- fore, to assume that they represent generally the opinion of the present leaders of the Kuomintang Party.
AN INTERVIEW WITH GENERAL CHIANG KAI-SHEK.
(BY BRUNO SCHWARTZ in the Hankow Herald.)
The revolution which is now in progress by the Nationalist Forces in China will not be completed until all existing treaties with foreign powers will have been abrogated and all Foreign Concessions returned to the Chinese Government, was a declaration made to me in a personal interview with the Commander- in-Chief of the Nationalist Army at his military headquarters at Nanchang, Kiangsi, on Friday afternoon, November 19th.
According to General Chiang Kai-shek, the conquering of Wu Pei-fu, Chang Tso-lin, Sun Chuan- fang and other northern militarists, is but a step of the immediate programme of the Northern Expedition. Hand in hand with it goes the determination to remove all supervision from Chinese administrative affairs, such as the Customs, Postal Service, Salt Gabelle, to secure the return of all Foreign Concessions in the country and to declare any and all treaties with foreign powers which were made with previous governments in China null and void. There will be no question of considering and revising existing treaties when the military revolution in China has been successfully completed, declared General Chiang, as all such treaties will summarily be refused recognition by the Nationalist Government.
What are your plans with regard to the form of government China will have after the revolution is completed? I asked General Chiang.
The new government will be based entirely upon the policy laid down by "The Three Peoples Principles" by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, he replied. It will be a Committee form of government along the same lines as exists in Russia to-day.
Where will the Capital of the country be? was the next question.
The new capital will be at Wuchang, was his reply. The date for the removal of the bureaux of the government from Canton to Wuchang has not yet been definitely set, but it will be in the near future. General Chiang stated that he himself would come to Wuchang within two weeks, and that it is very likely once the government removes to Wuchang, that city will remain the permanent Capital of China.
What are your intentions with regard to seeking recognition from the Foreign Powers? I next asked General Chiang.
Those who are sympathetic with us will extend us recognition without making demands for privileges in return for extending us recognition, he replied. Such friendly nations, he stated, will re- linquish all their special privileges and concessions without question, and will recognize us as a friendly Power. Those who still desire to maintain their special privileges and their Concessions, and those who are not willing to co-operate with us by denouncing all existing treaties with China as unequal and making new treaties upon a basis of entire equality, will be considered by us as unfriendly, and we do not care whether they recognize us or not. Existing treaties will come to an end, however, in the immediate future, recognition or no recognition. We want to be friendly with all other nations of the world, but we are out to stamp down Imperialism, the General stated, and no unequal treaties will ever be adhered to by us for the sake of securing recognition from Powers with Imperialistic ideas.
With regard to signing new treaties with the Powers, General Chiang Kai-shek stated that the Nationalist Government is ready and willing at any moment to enter into conference with the representa- tives of the various Powers in China, but was emphatic in declaring that such treaties will have to be made on the basis of equality, entirely without special privileges as have been accorded in the past-- that extraterritoriality and similar preferential treatment would be omitted from such new treaties entirely.
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