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10. The present would seem to be a suitable
occasion to attempt some estimate of the general position
and in particular of the causes which led to the
recurrence of civil war throughout the country. For this
purpose a useful text is provided by a manifesto, of Enclo. No. 2. which a translation is enclosed, circulated by Comrade
Wong Tsing-wai and his adherents on the eve of the attack
52701/28 (2)
on Canton. Wong Tsing-wai has been frequently the
subject of reference in my despatches, and in particular
I would draw Your Lordship's attention to my secret
despatch of December 10th, 1927, which contains an account
and criticism of the views which he expressed at that
time. A man of poor physique, emotional character, and
subtle rather than straightforward mentality, Wong
nevertheless commands to no small extent the respect of
the Chinese. He is, it is said, the only possible
sucessor to Chiang Kai-shek.
Outmanoeuvred by Chiang at
the time of the election for the third term of a Central
Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, with his associates in disgrace or even expelled from the Party, he retired
to Europe to await the time when it would be necessary
for Chiang's opponents to look to him as a leader.
11. Wong Tsing-wai himself is to this extent consistent that he has always tended towards the so-
called left wing of the Kuomintang, which was used by Chiang with such success in the past, but was jettisoned
by him when it ceased to be useful and even became
dangerous. Recommencing their intrigues after
the debacle, the Left Wing rechristened themselves the "Barty of Reorganization", inviting support for the policy of restoring to the Kuomintang its original
revolutionary