CO537-3706 — Page 134

J

"Wuhan

BY BAG

KOWLOON INCIDENT: STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS ETC.

British Consulate-General,

HANKOW.

24th January 1948.

AFIDENTIAL

M.27(302/20E/48)

(& 3 copies)

Jih Pao" 20.1.48

"Chou

Hsiang

Wan Pao" 17.1.48

Dear Chancery,

With reference to our letter No.22 of 19th January we have since heard confidentially from one of the leading Chinese businessmen here that in his view there was no doubt of Kuomin- tang backing for what happened in Canton, although events there ran away with themselves. He tells us that in Hankow it was planned for the students to enter the Consulate compound, paste up slogans on our buildings and generally to conduct their demonstration on our premises, though not necessarily to wreck them. It is certainly a tribute to the better forces of law and order in Hankow that they were not even allowed to approach the Consulate.

The enclosed translation of an article from the "Wuhan Jih Pao", the leading local Government and Party mouthpiece, shows skill in covering tracks with its reference to the "traitorous elements" in Canton that clouded the question at issue. The article from the "Chou Hsiang Wan Pao" (lunan Evening News), of Changsha, also enclosed in translation, is of the very opposite character. In spite of the "mosquito" nature of this publication, the article is perhaps worth study, extol- ling as it does the violence at Canton, and decrying the Canton authorities for ascribing to "traitorous elements" what was really patriotic action. We hardly imagine it need be taken too seriously, and it is indeed somewhat pitiable that so much heat should have been engendered at a time when the Communist threat is endangering the whole fabric in China.

Yours ever,

HANKOW CONSULATE-GENERAL

Chancery,

BRITISH EMBASSY,

NANKING.