CO885-11 — Page 95

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

། ། ། །

سلسل سائسلسا

Reference :-

C.O.882/11

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

C.11183/26S.

178

No. 19.

The Governor of Hongkong to the Secretary of State for the

Secret.

SIR,'

Colonies.

(Received 1st June, 1926.)

Government House, Hongkong, 29th April, 1926.

In continuation of my secret despatches of the 11th and 15th April,* I have the honour to inform you that on the 26th April Mr. J. F. Brenan, the acting Consul-General at Canton, tele- graphed to me that he had been notified by the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs that Dr. Lam Tsz-fung [Chinese characters) was being sent to Hongkong next day "to continue the informal negotiations for a settlement of the boycott."

2. Dr. Lam Tsz-fung is a barrister of the Middle Temple and a doctor of medicine. He was formerly employed in the Sanitary Department of Hongkong. Recently he has held office in the province of Kuang-hsi as Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and was stationed at Wuchow. His present post is described by him as being Director of the Central Customs Administration of the Ministry of Finance at Canton." He is not, so far as I can ascertain, a person of much consequence in the Canton Govern- ment, nor is he a member of the Canton Council of Government. He cannot be considered to be of equal official standing with Mr. J. H. Kemp and he is not, of course, one of the three officials nominated last month by the Canton Government to negotiate with the Hongkong Government for a settlement of the boycott.

3. Dr. Lam arrived in Hongkong from Canton by river steamer on the afternoon of the 27th April, and at once went to visit Dr. K. H. Kotewall, an old friend of his. At about 3.30 p.m. on the same afternoon he called on Mr. D. W. Tratman, acting Secretary for Chinese Affairs, accompanied by Dr. Kote- wall. Mr. Tratman asked Dr. Lam for his credentials. He thereupon referred to Mr. Brenan's telegram, which he said was arranged between Mr. Fu Peng-sheung and Mr. Fitzmaurice, and he produced a minute of a meeting of the Canton Council of Government, signed by General T'an Yin-hoi, the acting Chair- man, according to which it was decided that Dr. Lam should take to Hongkong an aide-mémoire explaining the attitude of the Canton Government towards the settlement of the strike." Dr. Lam said that this aide-mémoire was a typewritten English note. It was not signed, but it was drawn up by the Canton Government and was not intended for presentation to me, but rather as a guide to himself in a conversation, strictly unofficial and informal, which he hoped to have with me. Mr. Tratman

41

* Nos. 17 and 18.

179

pointed out that the usual channel for communications to me was through the Secretary for Chinese Affairs or the Colonial Secre- tary. Dr. Lam then said that the document was intended for me personally and that he did not think it would be proper to deliver it otherwise than personally. Mr. Tratman replied that he would report the matter to me. The interview was friendly throughout.

4. On leaving Mr. Tratman, Dr. Lam paid a visit to Mr. J. H. Kemp and handed him a letter from Mr. C. C. Wu, which was friendly but of no official importance. He had a short conversa- tion with Mr. Kemp, but the question of the boycott was not mentioned between them.

5. Next morning (28th April) I discussed with Mr. Hallifax, Mr. Kemp and Mr. Tratman the question of the best procedure to adopt in connexion with Dr. Lam's visit. We all agreed that it would be preferable for Dr. Lam to see the Colonial Secretary. rather than myself, and to make to Mr. Hallifax any formal or informal communication with which he was charged by the Canton Government. Accordingly an interview between Mr. Hallifax, Mr. Kemp and Dr. Lam took place at the Colonial Secretary's Office at 11.30 a.m. At this interview Dr. Lam handed over to Mr. Hallifax without demur, and without any further request for an interview with me, the aide-mémoire, of which I attach a copy. It was plainly the work of Mr. C. C. Wu, and it refers to the enclosed communiqué issued by the Hongkong Government on the 13th April with respect to Mr. Kemp's visit to Canton. A discussion then ensued which is summarised in the attached minute by Mr. Hallifax. Dr. Lam concurred in this minute and he was furnished with a copy of it as an aide-mémoire on his return to Canton. No further official interviews took place with Dr. Lam and he left for Canton this morning.

6. The visit of Dr. Lam Tsz-fung does not appear to have had any effect on the relations between Canton and Hongkong and I do not know what purpose the Canton Government had in send- ing him, unless it may be to ascertain whether last week's hap- penings in Canton have in any way modified the views of the Hongkong Government with respect to the boycott. There have been three noteworthy occurrences.

7. In the first place Mr. Ch'an Kung-pok, so-called “Minister of Labour" at Canton, a member of the Canton Council of Government, and one of the three officials appointed by the Canton Government to negotiate with the Hongkong Government a settlement of the boycott, has resigned. He was an extremist and a strong supporter of the Labour Unions in their fight to con- trol such institutions as the Canton Hospital. Mr. Brenan has it upon good authority that Mr. Ch'an Kung-pok has been forced to leave the Government and this seems to be a sign of increas- ing strength among the anti-Communists in Canton.

8. The second noteworthy incident was an attack by strike pickets in Canton on Colonel Hayley Bell, the Commissioner of Customs, on the 22nd April. In a note to me Colonel Hayley Bell describes the affair thus: "I resisted personal search by