CO885-11 — Page 195

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference:--

mimimC.O.882/11

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

14

not Shanghai. There is also in to-day's newspapers a hint of a split The cause of between Marshal Tseung and General Li Chai-sum. their dissension is said to be the matter of funds for the further pro- gress of the "northern punitive expedition," but I cannot at the moment of writing arrive at any clear picture of the position.

5. It so happened that, at the time of the anti-Communist coup in Canton, I had before me three protests by the Canton authorities, all three made prior to the week-end purgation. The first was against the naval expedition to Bias Bay, the second against the action taken in Hong Kong with respect to the Sun Yat-sen memorial service (see my secret despatch of the 18th March") and the third against the closure of the General Labour Union in Hong Kong (my secret despatch of the 14th April†). These protests, copies of which are attached, appeared to afford an admirable opportunity of testing the attitude of the new régime in Canton towards this Colony, and I accordingly suggested to Mr. Brenan that he should call on the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs (who does not appear to have been changed) and sound him on these points. I have also asked Mr. Brenan to ascer tain the extent to which the Seamen's Union in Canton has suffered. If it is found that the headquarters of the Canton Seamen's Union have been forcibly closed, I propose to take immediate advantage of the opportunity to proscribe and close its Hong Kong branch. In Swatow this Union has, I understand, been closed down with the rest and in Shanghai its leaders have been executed. My last news to-day is that the Seamen's Union men on all ships declared a 24-hours strike at Canton as a protest against the recent searching of the labour unions by the Canton Government and that the S.S. Fatshan has left from Canton for Hong Kong with a scratch naval and military crew. Mr. Brenan telegraphs to me that he is trying to see General Li Chai-sum in order to ascertain the attitude of the Government.

6. Since the coup d'état the Canton Government has changed the chief editors of both the Man Kwok Yat Po, which is the principal organ of the Kuomintang at Canton, and of the Kwok Man San Man, The Canton which is the principal Labour newspaper at Canton. Gazette continues, but I have no information yet concerning the atti- tude of General Li Chai-sum towards it.

7. I take the opportunity of forwarding the under-mentioned docu. ments for your information:-

(a) Report by the Assistant Superintendent of Police, New Territories, dated the 17th April, 1927, on the position on the land

frontier.

(b) Translation of an extract from the Man Kwok Yat Po. Canton, of the 5th April, 1927, purporting to be a letter from the German Consul-General in Canton on the subject of Germany's request for the return of her Colonies in its relation to China.

I have etc.,

C. CLEMENTI,

Governor, etc.

• No. 7.

+ No. 10.

‡ Not printed.

45

ENCLOSURE 1 IN No. 11.

EVENTS AND CURRENT RUMOURS: CANTON, 18TH AND 19TH APRIL, 1927. 18th April, 1927.

To deal with the dangerous communist elements in accordance with urgent instructions from the Kuomintang Central Control Committee received at General Military Headquarters here, General Li Chai-sum as Acting Commander-in-chief, after calling a conference with his commandants, enforced emergency martial law in Canton at midnight of 14th instant, and large companies of troops were immediately sent out in the early morning of Good Friday, the 15th, in different directions to raid the various red labour organisation headquarters. Fighting immediately took place at Shekwaitong, the Samshui railway station, at Wongsha, the Yueh-Han station, on the East Bund, the Canton-Kowloon station, and at the East Garden, the Strike Union Headquarters, and at Fongchuen, the Strike Picket Headquarters. The troops did not cease firing until at about ten in the morning of the 15th when the labour fighters at the railway stations all surrendered their arms and were dispersed. The city police took the same summary measures in the city and on Honam side, searching for red elements. in schools and labour union buildings. The city traffic communications. were not resumed until two o'clock in the afternoon. The number of red party workmen arrested and detained was about 2,000 including men and women. About 40 students, boys and girls, were arrested The number of important from the Kwang-tung University. communist members included in the arrest list handed over to police by General Li Chai-sum is said to be 400. However, General Li has issued an order that the names of the communists arrested this time should not be published. Following the quick action taken on Friday to suppress the disorderly elements, the Provincial Kuomintang appointed a special committee of five responsible officers of the Govern- ment to deal with any emergency that may arise. The said Committee is composed of General Li Chai-sum, Mr. Koo Ying-fan, General Li Fuk-lam, Mr. Chan Fuh-nuuk, and General Tang Yin-wah. addition, General Chien Ta-chun, the Garrison Commander, has been appointed Martial Law Commander to maintain local peace and order. The Special Committee has issued a manifesto declaring that under the circumstances this province of Kwang-tung has now severed relations with the Hankow Central Kuomintang, as the latter is now controlled by the Communist Party.

In

Mr. Koo Ying-fan has been appointed by the Kuomintang Special Committee Provincial Finance Commissioner and concurrently acting Finance Minister. Mr. Li Cheng-yi, who was authorised by T. V. Soong to be in charge of financial affairs, has now been detained. Mr. Soong is reported to have been detained in Shanghai by Chiang

19th April, 1927.

Kai-shek.

The anti-red campaign in Canton on Good Friday was much applauded by merchants and the general public, but certain classes are still not satisfied that the action taken here was not so thorough as that taken in Swatow on the 17th, where al labour unions were sealed and closed. Although the red labour pickets have been dis- armed and some 2,000 suspects arrested and detained, the Canton-