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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :--
TC.O.882/11
السلس
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO
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likely that, as stated in a message, dated the 23rd September. from a Canton correspondent of the South China Morning Post and published in to-day's issue of that newspaper, General Cheung Kai-shek, in a recent telegram from the front, has directed that the boycott should be called off and normal com- munication with Hongkong be resumed, in order that the menace of a British blockade of his prime base and his only present out. let to the sea may be removed. Should this be the real explana- tion, we may expect to see the boycott suspended at all events until General Cheung finds himself in a less unsafe military situa tion. The announcement in the local Pre of the list of His Majesty's ships now on their way to Hongkong to reinforce the China squadron has made a deep impression on the Chinese here and at Canton.
6. There can, however, be little doubt that the Canton Govern- ment is playing for time. It has done so all along.. The letter from Mr. Eugene Ch'ên to me proposing a conference to settle the boycott was dated 5th June. The British reply agreeing to such a conference was presented to Mr. Ch'en on the 16th June. This delay But it was not until 15th July that the conference sat. of one month was wholly and solely due to the Canton Govern- ment. The conference adjourned sine die on the 23rd July, and thereupon General Cheung Kai-shek at once left for the front on the "northern punitive expedition,” taking General Gallent with him and leaving Mr. Borodin behind at Canton. No doubt General Cheung considered that we had been manceuvred into a position in which negotiations could be protracted as long as the Canton Government might desire without risk from us to his base or to his oversea communications with Vladivostok. No attempt was made by the Canton Government to resume negotia- tions until after the 4th September, on which day our gunboats cleared all strike pickets off the waterways at Canton. Then the Canton authorities were really frightened and, if we can keep them in a state of wholesome alarm, it is quite likely that the boycott may end for a time at least. If, however, for any reason they suspect us of bluff or believe that " the talking is still good," they will exhaust all the resources of duplicity to gain further delay until the result of their northern expedition is known.
7. At the present moment the Canton Government is in a most precarious position. Its best troops and its best generals are away in Hunan, Hupeli and Kiang-si. Wu-ch'ang has not yet fallen. The intrigue at Nan-ch'ang appears to have miscarried. It looks as if Marshals Wu P'ei-fu, Chang Tso-lin and Sun Ch'uan-fang were agreed in one matter at least, namely the necessity for overthrowing the present Canton Government. Marshal Sun, according to a telegram of His Majesty's Consul at Kiu-kiang is now at that port and is said to be going to the front at Wu-süeh, where serious fighting is expected shortly. According to information received from Colonel F. Hayley-Bell, General Chau Ying-yam, the tupan of Fukien, held a military con- ference on the 17th September, at which it was resolved to com- mence a general attack on Kuang-tung on the 19th September.
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General Ch'an Kweng-meng, whose influence in the East River valley is considerable, is also endeavouring to start an attack upon the Canton Government from within the province of Kuang- tung itself. It would, therefore, be a fatal mistake for the Canton Government at the present time to take any action which might result in our closing the ports of Canton and Swatow by naval blockade. Such action by us would give the signal for all the latent forces hostile to the Canton Soviet to join in attack- ing it, and I feel quite sure that the mere threat of such action by ourselves, if made now, would suffice to end the boycott.
8. If, however, the boycott can be ended without such a threat being actually made by us, and if the mere menace of our naval reinforcements is sufficient, then it is, of course, prudent to wait until the 10th October, in order to test the sincerity of the state- But there is grave risk in ment made by Mr. Eugene Ch'ên. delay, for the military situation may possibly change, to the advantage of the Canton Government, and there is also the danger that during the interval Russian ships with warlike sup- plies may reach Canton. The latter fear is not imaginary, as the enclosed translation of an article in the issue of the Tsun Wan Yat Po of the 24th September* will show. From it you will see that on the 23rd September the Canton Government received a shipment from Russia of a number of heavy guns of the latest type, which it is said have been allotted to various sections of the
northern punitive expedition."
9. Mr. Eugene Ch'ên, on the 23rd September, issued the fol- lowing communiqué at Canton:-" The acting Minister for Foreign Affairs has informed His Britannic Majesty's acting Consul-General that arrangements have been made with the Strike Committee for the termination of the boycott. To what extent this step will lead to a restoration of Chinese-British trade relations must depend on British policy and action and on British comprehension of Chinese Nationalism, its ideas and force as a principal of energy in the work, of unifying and modernising China." I presume that this document is to be regarded as a paraphrase of Mr. Ch'ên's letter of the 18th September, which forms an enclosure in this despatch. If that is so, it would appear that the removal of the boycott is to be unconditional. It would seem also that the second sentence of the communiqué” must be read as an explanatory note on the new taxation pro- posals.
10. Concerning these taxation proposals two preliminary points call for comment. In the first place, Mr. Chên announces authoritatively, as Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China, that certain taxes will be levied. He does not ask our consent, and the assumption underlying the letter is that his Government has full power to levy these taxes without our own or anybody else's consent. In the next place, he says that these taxes will be levied
• Enclosure 3.