CO885-11 — Page 98

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184

On the 26th April General Ng T'it-sheng, who returned to Can- ton from Shanghai in January last and had since been Chief of Police, was suddenly removed from this post by General Cheung Kai-shek, who replaced him by a man of his own, named Li Cheung-tat. This was done without reference to Mr. C. C. Wu, who as Mayor of Canton was theoretically the immediate superior of General Ng Tit-sheng, and it was both a surprise and a shock to Mr. C. C. Wu. There were also changes in Hong- kong, where, on the 1st May, Mr. W. T. Southorn assumed duty as Colonial Secretary, and Mr. Halifax thereupon reverted to the post of Secretary for Chinese Affairs, which until then had been held by Mr. Tratman.

4. The convention of the General Ex.cutive Committee of the Kuo-min-tang began, as arranged, on the 15th May. Prior to its commencement, Mr. Wu Hon-man secretly left Canton on the 9th May, the same day as that on which Mr. Wong Tseng-wai left, and he has since gone to Shanghai. The outstanding event of the first day's meeting of the convention was a Resolution, proposed by General Cheung Kai-shek and passed without demur, that no Communist should, in future, hold any Govern- ment post. It was also resolved that the Kuo-min-tang, or Nationalist Party and the Kung-Tsai-Tang or Chinese Com- munist Party should organize a joint conference to remove internal differences of policy between themselves. The conven- tion closed on the 22nd May, when a manifesto was issued by the Kuo-min-tang to the effect that there was no intention of boycotting Communists, but rather that a new co-operation of the parties was hoped for with the object of consolidating the foundations of the "world revolution," and its enterprises for the good of the whole Chinese nation.

5. On the same day "the Nationalist Government of Canton issued a mandate appointing Mr. Eugene Ch'ên to be Minister for Foreign Affairs vice Mr. Wu Hon-man, then absent. At this point it is necessary to explain that theoretically there are three Governments in Canton—namely, the Municipal Government which rules Canton, the Provincial Government which rules Kuang-tung, and the Nationalist Government which, in the view of the authorities now exercising control at Canton, is the central Government of all China and will in time govern the whole country. Mr. Wu Hon-man was-even while absent in Moscow -the titular Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government of Canton, Mr. Fu Peng-sheung being Commis- sioner for Foreign Affairs of the Provincial Government of Kuang-tung. Mr. Brenan once asked Mr. Fu to say who was acting as his chief in the absence of Mr. Wu Hon-man.

My assistant, Mr. Luk, is this Mr. Fu replied with a laugh: acting as Minister for Foreign Affairs, and is, therefore, my chief as well as my subordinate." Mr. Eugene Ch'ên [his real name is Ch❜ên Yu-jen [Chinese characters], Eugene being an adaptation of the Pekingese pronunciation of the second and third characters in the name] now takes the place of Mr. Luk and, what is more

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important, he has since the 3rd June taken the place of Mr. Fu Peng-sheung as well; for Mr. Fu absconded from Canton on the 2nd June and Mr. C. C. Wu on the 1st June, and both left Hong- kong in 5.5. President Lincoln for Shanghai on the 5th June.

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6. The circumstances in which Mr. C. C. Wu and Mr. Fu ran away from Canton are set out in the enclosed confidential memorandum* of a very interesting conversation which the latter had with Dr. Kotewall in Hongkong. It would seem that the Government personnel at Canton has undergone a precipitate change, and that General Cheung Kai-shek now completely dominates the city. Mr. Sun Fo has for the time being taken the place of Mr. C. C. Wu as Mayor of Canton. Dr. Lam Tsz- fung is appointed Canton Customs Superintendent vice Mr. Fu Peng-sheung, dismissed; while the concurrent post of Commis- sioner for Foreign Affairs of the Provincial Government of Kuang-tung is abolished, and the "Ministry of Foreign Affairs '' will organize a new bureau to deal with local diplomatic matters.

7. The reasons for these sudden changes are still obscure, and so are also the workings of General Cheung's mind: but it appears that Mr. Eugene Ch'ên had no sooner assumed office uan he was instructed by his Government, i.e., presumably by General Cheung, to open negotiations for a settlement of the anti-British boycott in Kuang-tung. Accordingly, on the 4th June, he privately informed Mr. Brenan that he proposed to adopt whichever of the following two courses we might prefer, namely―

(a) address a letter to me, to be sent through Mr. Brénan, asking me to appoint official delegates to negotiate with Canton official delegates for a settlement of the boycott, or

(b) address a letter to Mr. Brenan suggesting that he, as Imperial representative, assisted by Hongkong olhciais, should negotiate with the Canton delegation for the settle- ment of anti-British trouble throughout Kuang-tung

Province.

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He ex-

In either case Mr. Ch'ên desired an assurance beforehand that the reply would be addressed to him as Minister, for Foreign Affairs of the Nationalist Government of Canton." plained that he did not thereby wish to obtain de jure recognition of his Government, but that he desired the same treatment as is given to the corresponding official in Peking during the time of non-recognition. Mr. Ch'en added that the Cantonese delegation, consisting of himself, the Minister of Finance (Mr. Sung Tsz- man) and the Minister of Labour (Mr. Chan Kung-pok) would have full powers to negotiate as principals, the intention being to begin afresh, and disregard what had gone before.

He as- sured Mr. Brenan that the Canton Government earnestly desired a mutually satisfactory settlement.

* Enclosure 1.

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