CO885-11 — Page 101

101

}

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :--

ETERNIC.O.882/11

سال سالسا

|ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

190

rule." Shortly after his advent in Canton he worked so cleverly and insidiously that a serious split in the Kuo-min-tang resulted. The party divided itself into two: the "Elder Statesmen Party," headed by Hu Han-min, and the "Crown Prince Party," headed by Sun Fo. The principal members of the former party were Hu Han-min, Wong Tseng-wai, Liao Chung-kai, Hsu Shung-chi and Cheung Kai-shek. After dividing the main party, Borodin began to sow seeds of dissension among the "Elder Statesmen." day, of the five men named, only Cheung Kai-shek is left in power.

To-

7. First, Borodin supplied Cheung Kai-shek with money and arms, and Russian officers and non-commissioned officers to train his men, so that he might be strong enough to deal with Hsu Shung-chi and Hu han-min, whom Borodin and his Chinese friends represented to Cheung as having plotted against him. After Hu Han-min and Hsu Shung-chi were got out of the way. Borodin paid his attention to Cheung and Wong Tseng-wai (Liao Chung-kai having in the meantime been assassinated), to see to He found that whom he should next give his chief support. Cheung was not willing to go the length he wanted, because

"Sunwenites Cheung's officers and men were practically (men steeped in Sun Yat-sen's doctrine), and not in favour of Bolshevism. Accordingly, Borodin, through his agents (he being away) turned to Wong Tseng-wai, and plotted with him Fortunately for Cheung, the to get rid of Cheung Kai-shek. plot became known-to him; and he at once took steps to get the The former were de- Russian and Chinese plotters arrested. ported. As a result of this, Wong Tseng-wai had to retire from on account the chairmanship of the National Executive Council " of ill-health." This explained Cheung Kai-shek's attitude towards the Communists at the meeting of the Central Executive At that meet- Committee of the Kuo-min-tang on the 15th May. ing, and in subsequent meetings, the Communistic element of the to Cheung Kai-shek's Kuo-min-tang seemingly submitted wishes; but there was at least one man-Hu Han-min-who had Two foreseen such attitude on the part of the Communists. days before Hu Han-min quietly slipped out of Canton, which was before the first meeting of the Central Executive Committee took place, he told Fu Peng-sheung that he did not expect the Communists to show fight, but on the contrary he thought they would accept the situation, and then bide their time for an oppor- Subsequent events tunity to turn the table on the Rights."

And it was Wu Pei- have proven how correct this forecast was. fu's threatened invasion, of all things, that favoured the Com- munists; Cheung Kai-shek had to decide almost at once as to whether he should leave, or resist Wu Pei-fu's attack and so retain Naturally he preferred the latter his power in South China.

course, but he would almost be impotent without money and arms, which the Russians alone could supply. Thus began a bar- Borodin's first gain between Borodin and Cheung Kai-shek. condition was that Cheung Kai-shek should immediately place under arrest Wu Te-chen who was accused of complicity in the

191

explosion of the powder magazine attached to the Military Academy at Whampoa. Borodin also insisted on C. C. Wu and all those who were closely associated with him being dismissed from office. Cheung Kai-shek apparently accepted these condi- tions, because he detained Wu Te-chen in custody on Sunday, the 30th May, and advised C. C. Wu to leave. As soon as Wu Te-chen was detained, the Russians handed over to Cheung Kai- shek 8.000 new rifles and 8,000,000 rounds of ammunition. It is understood that more arms and ammunition which are on the way to Canton, will likewise be handed over. From Cheung Kai- shek's point of view, he must necessarily, for self preservation, send troops into Hunan, as Wu Pei-fu is out to destroy him. From the Russians' point of view, it would suit them if Kuang- tung were to fight Wu Pei-fu, so that Bolshevism might continue to flourish in Kuang-tung. Another of their objects is to weaken the strength of Wu Pei-fu in his fight with Feng Yu-hsiang. Cheung Kai-shek may be strong enough to defeat Wu Pei-fu because the latter cannot depend upon the support of Sun Chuan- fang. Sun is believed to be not strong enough to hold together even the five provinces within his sphere of influence, not to speak of helping others to invade Kuang-tung. In order to ap- pease Sun Chuan-fang. Borodin and Gallent advised Cheung not to invade Kiangsi, though its power of resistance is small, but to employ his whole strength against Wu Pei-fu via Hunan. ously, Borodin does not fully trust Feng Yu-hsiang, and Fu him- Curi- self could appreciate Borodin's feeling, as Feng is not a man in whom anyone can place implicit confidence. Fu thinks that Cheung Kai-shek will be strong enough to drive Wu Pei-fu's soldiers out of Hunan, because of the substantial assistance he gets from Russia, and also because of the good generalship of General Gallent who will be his chief military adviser. sent the Southern Government has about 100,000 men, of whom At pre- 60,000 are in Kuang-tung, about 30,000 in Kwongsi, and about 10,000 in Hunan. It is calculated that with 110,000 men, well trained and well armed, Kuang-tung could make a good showing against Wu Pei-fu. The Southern Government has at present about 78,000 rifles (including the 8,000 handed over by the Rus- sians on the 1st June), and the Russians have promised to give them another 30,000. They have several modern aeroplanes, and at least two good Chinese aviators trained in France and America, not to speak of the Russian officers.

8. It is Fu Peng-sheung's opinion that soon or late Cheung Kai-shek will part company with the Communists. At present he is in the power of the Russians, and he must perforce submit to their dictation. It is a case of two partners making use of each other in order to serve their own and separate ends. It would be difficult to foretell which partner will ultimately get the upper hand. In the meantime Cheung Kai-shek is so actively and substantially supported by Russia that he may defeat the generals sent by Wu Pei-fu, and then Feng Yu-hsiang, with, similar aid from the Russians, may capture Shansi.