CO537-1658 — Page 24

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Facts have come to light which show that during the

Japanese occupation of Hong Kong the Kuomintang, operating from

Free China, utilised the services of men affiliated to Triad

societies to carry on underground subversive movements against the

Japanese. This gave the Kuomintang a foothold in the Colony

immediately after the British re-occupation and enabled it for

the first time openly to show its head without any formal applica-

tion for recognition such as is usual on the part of societies

establishing themselves here.

The times were of course times of

confusion; and the Kuomintang showed itself at the beginning all

too ready to continue to employ the services of these underground

desperados for so-called "anti-traitor and anti- communist"

activities, which were really designed to obtain a share in the

looting of property and stores of all kinds which had been in the

hands of the Japanese and to blackmail alleged "collaborators",

2.

The assumption at first thus was that the party could

act in the same way here as in other parts of re-occupied China,

and the task of the British re-occupation authorities was, if it

could not be got rid of entirely, to reduce its activities so that

they should conform to British law and order, and at the same time

to get rid of the desperado element as soon as possible.

3.

The latter of these objects was soon accomplished to

some extent by buying off the Triad bands with military yen, on

condition that they handed in their arms and withdrew from the

Colony. Half of the arms, however, were subsequently discovered

to have been retained by one Shum Chit-san, who was then the self-

styled head of the Hong Kong branch of the Kuomintang.

4.

Early in October, 1945, the Commander-in-Chief, as

head of the Hong Kong Military Administration, issued instructions

that this Mr. Shum must cease all his activities here and close his

offices, pending the reply to enquiries which were being made

through the British Ambassador in Chungking. The office of Mr.Shu