CO537-3709 — Page 57

the procession could quickly have been deflected.

15.

With regard to future protection Dr. Soong stated that against Central Government standing instructions he had now given orders that if another disturbance occurred the Gendarmes were to fire, as the

I blood would this time be clearly on the heads of the rioters. replied that Shameen with its moat should be extremely easy to defend against a mob and that if there were only one hundred men with bayonets they should be able to hold it quite easily, without firing a shot. He then said if bayonets are all that is required in Hong Kong they would not have had to open fire, He added that if further evictions occurred in Kowloon he anticipated further trouble, On returning to

of Shameen I walked round the island with lfajor-General T.S. Wang, the Municipality, and asked him to report to the Mayor that in all had only seen about twenty undersized and underfed Polios and ten Gendarmes. He stated the Police weṛe that way because they were paid so little, No one would, in fact, be a Policeman if he were strong enough to be a coolis, A Chinese formerly on General Chen Chi-tang's staff told me today that in his day there were 300 Police at Tungshan but now there are only 80 and the latter receive only N‡500,000 a month or about one-fifth of what we pay a Consulate coolie.

16.

I rang up Mr. T.K. Ho and asked him to inform Er. Soong of my observations after walking round Shameen, He soon rang back to say Dr. Soong had made enquiries and ascertained that there were in all on Shamsen, in houses and in the streets, 70 Police and 40 Gendarmes, Today sandbags have been placed on the bridges and it would appear that in the event of further trouble we are likely to receive at least more protection than before.

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17.

The Press which has taken a hand in whipping up this agitation, may be to some extent influenced by the fact that Hong Kong Airways are now bringing in more than a ton and a half of Hong Kong dailies which is expected to increase shortly to three tons This influx is hard to combat as not only do Hong Kong papers carry fuller news but they are chosper. It is estimated that they have already decreased the circulation of local papers by 20%; therefore a severanos ¡of relations with Hong Kong is in the latter's interests. It is

difficult to see how any hand outs by our Information Service could possibly sot as a counter-weight to this hard economic fact,

In any case handouts tend to be rejected in times of crisis.

18. In South China the temperament of the people and their mimina climate are not dissimilar, both are normally of a warm and sunny nature but both are given on occasion to the most sudden and violent storms, in face of which, if destruction is to be avoided, storm shelter is essential. As a protection against the ravages of climatic storms peculiar to this region, typhoon shelters exist and as a protection against the sudden political hurricane peculiar to this region, in the past the Concession shelter existed. It has required little over two years without this form of political shelter for one of these political hurricanes, which in the past would probably have caused little destruction, now to destroy this Consulate-General, and the buildings of three British firms,

19.

I have written this report sooner after the event than for some reasons I should have preferred, as I felt the absence of an authorative account was probably in many ways embarrassing. As I am sending it down to be typed in Hong Kong it is perforce unsigned. It

may, perhaps/.......

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