Translation.
No.475/27
From Commissioner for Foreign Affairs (No.233)
318
327
Sir,
Canton.
10th November, 1927.
I have the honour to refer to British Gunboats
destroying by arson the T'ai P'ing-hu and the Fu Lai
villages and to the heavy loss in shops and houses which
resulted. On the 7th September the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs submitted a protest. After my appointment I
again protested on the 19th Cctober and demanded that
the officer(s) responsible for this act of violence be
punished in accordance with law. I also reserved the
right to claim compensation for losses suffered.
I am now in receipt of two reports, one from the
Namhoi Magistrate stating that the total losses suffered
in the old and the new Tai Ping-hu are $570, 260; the other
from the Koming Magistrate stating that the losses suffered
at Fu Lai are $2192, the gross total therefore being
$572,452: from this it will be seen that the action of
the British gunboats was cruel and inhumane beyond all
reason: moreover it was a violation of China's sovereign
rights damaging to international relations. I therefore
protest a third time and forward herewith two tables
showing losses with the request that the Hongkong Govern-
ment be asked to make good these losses, severely to
punish the officer(s) responsible and also to guarantee
that, in the interests of friendly relati ons, no such act
will in future be repeated.
(Sgd. Ch'en Cheong-lok
Commissioner for Foreign Affairs.