PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
ཀ།། །།
C.O.882/11
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
:
C 15384/26.
206
No. 24.
The Governor of Hongkong to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
Secret:
SIR,
(Received 6th August, 1926.)
Government House, Hongkong, 1st July, 1926.
In continuation of my secret despatch of the 29th June, 1926.* concerning the boycott negotiations, I have the honour to in- form you that the first anniversary of the Shameen incident of the 23rd June, 1925, passed without creating any fresh trouble. There were, however, demonstrations in Canton, and the tone of the vernacular Cantonese press is well illustrated by the issues of the Canton Gazette on the 23rd, 25th and 26th June. copies of which I attach.† There was no issue on the 24th June, which was observed at Canton as a public holiday. I draw your special attention to the speech of General Cheung Kai-shek,† reported in the Canton Gazette of the 25th June. under the heading,
He "The June 23rd Demonstration." appears to have said: "We can never forget June 23rd. We must work hard. Firstly, to make the patriotic strike victor- ious. Secondly, to recover Hongkong. Thirdly, workers, peasants, merchants, students and soldiers must stand united to overthrow the Imperialist oppressors, to abolish the unequal treaties they imposed upon our country."
11
2. Evidently, it would have been impracticable to begin negotiations at Canton between British and Chinese delegates, with a view to ending the boycott, until these demonstrations were over and the renewed ebullition of anti-British propa- ganda had subsided. Order was, however, successfully maintained in Canton throughout the demonstrations.
3. Another cause of delay is probably the precarious position in which General Cheung Kai-shek finds himself.
I attach copy
of a joint memorandum; from Sir Shou-son Chow and Dr. Kote- wall, dated the 18th June, from which you will see that there has apparently been a rapprochement between Marshal Sun Ch'uan- fang and Marshal Wu P'ei-fu, and further that General Cheung cannot rely upon the loyalty of his subordinate army com- manders. General Cheung has recently proclaimed himself Commander-in-Chief of all the forces in Kuang-tung, and this has aroused the jealousy of the other generals, of whom the three chiefs are T'am Yin-hoi (the Hunanese general), Li Tsai-sam (the
• No. 28. † Not reprinted. + Enclosure.
207
Cantonese general) and Chū P'ui-tak (the Yunnanese general). It must not be forgotten that General Cheung is not a Cantonese, but a native of Che-kiang.
4. I learn from Major Cassel, who has the information from a secret agent, that on the 25th June, Marshal Sun sent the follow- ing message to General Cheung: "Unless all the terms of our agreement are fulfilled by you within ten days after receipt of this message, Wu P'ei-fu's expedition against Kuang-tung will become a reality with the whole of my army, navy and financial resources added. This will mean, in addition to Hunan, the provinces of Chê-kiang, Kiangsu, Anhui, Fukien and Kiangsi. I tell you this that you may decide. Your declarations of May 15th and May 31st are good. But these were words only and I want proof." It is also announced in the Hongkong Wa Tsz Yat Po newspaper of the 29th June, that on the 26th June Marshal Sun telegraphed to General Cheung that the Hunanese must be left to settle Hunan affairs, and that the Kuang-tung army must at once be withdrawn from Hunan. I do not know how far these two items of news can be relied upon but it seems very probable that General Cheung has been in negotiation with Marshal Sun, and that the latter has dictated terms to the former.
6. The fact that General Tang Chi-yao, who is War Lord of Yunnan Province, issued in June a proclamation against Bolsh- evism, and the further fact that Marshals Wu P'ei-fu and Chang Tso-lin met each other in Peking on the 28th June must seem ominous to General Cheung: for, unless he can come to terms with Marshal Sun, he will find himself surrounded by enemies, and the hope of help from the Kuo-min-chün and the Russians in the north must seem to him increasingly remote. I expect, therefore, that, in spite of his truculent anti-British speech of the 23rd June, he is at heart anxious to end the boycott.
Confidential.
I have, &c.,
C. CLEMENTI,
ENCLOSURE IN No. 24.
MEMORANDUM.
Governor, &c.
The following information has been given to us through Mr. Li Yik-mui by Mr. Kam Cheong, at one time Mayor of Canton, and now closely associated with Lin Fu, who has been appointed by Wu Pei-fu to be commander of the "5th Army." Mr. Kam Cheong has just come down from Hankow.
109