CO129-302 - Public Offices - 1900 — Page 746

[This Document is the Property of Her Britannic Majesty's Governme

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL,

[September Rec

TREG tz SECTION 1.

734

No. 1.

Li Hung-chang to Sir Chihchen Lofêngluh.-(Communicated by Sir Chihchen Lofêngluh,

September 7.)

(Telegraphic.)

Shanghae, September 6, 1900, 2:55 P.M. THE order and peace in the South and East provinces of China shall be main- tained by the Chinese authorities in strict accordance with the Articles agreed upon, and the Viceroys and Governors will exert their utmost to afford protection to the foreign and native, Christian and non-Christian, lives and properties within their jurisdictions; but it is now found that an insurrectionary organization headed by Kang-yu-wei and Liang Ki-chao, amalgamated with the Cantonese notorious rebel, Ku-Sing, and the chiefs of the Triad Society, Pan-Sing-Kwei and Lew-Fuh, aflied with the different Secret Societies, propose to uprise in the two Hu (ie., Hunau and Hu-Peh), three Kiang (ie., Kiang-Su, Nyan Hui, and Kiang Si), and the two Kwang (ie., Kwang Tung and Kwangsi) provinces. They call themselves the National Protectors, but in reality they are rebelling against the Government for their own end, and disturbing peace and order.

I may mention the recent case of Tang Chung Chai for illustration. He was a rebel in Pih-Kan of Tn-Tung when arrested by the Viceroys Lew-Kwung-Yih and Chang Chih Tung; he confessed freely that he was in the party of Kang-yu-wei; a quantity of ammunition, guns, documents and papers confiscated proved the accuracy of his confession. This case is well known to both foreigners and Chinese.

In the Province of Canton (Kwang Tung) the Secret Societies are still more uumerous. Their head-quarters are at the Gardens of Yu-Yu-Chih, in Hong Kong, and at the "Reformer" of Chih Sing Magazine Office, in Macao. They meet secretly at the two above-mentioned places to plan their insurrectionary scheme. The most prominent members are-

1. Ho Lien Wung.

2. Ho Muh Ling.

3. Hsu Ching.

4. Lew Chien Ling.

5. Meh Mung Hwa.

6. Chen Chung Yen.

7. Yung Wing.

They visit Hong Kong and Macao frequently to arrange the plans and dates of uprising, for the purchase and supply of rifles, guns, and ammunitions stored in coffins and imported from the Straits Settlements into Canton. These rebel leaders, if they be not arrested and punished according to law, will certainly set the whole of the Southern and Eastern provinces in a blaze similar to what the Boxer movement did in the North, and do unlimited damage to the foreign trade in China.

I have therefore to request you to bring this telegram before Lord Salisbury and persuade his Lordship to issue telegraphic instructions to the Governors of Singapore and Hong Kong to adopt stringent measures for the investigation and arrest of these rebels, and to keep them in prison so as to nip the insurrection in the bud.

Both foreigners and Chinese would derive great benefits from the action of Lord Salisbury, and be grateful to his Lordship.

Please reply by wire.

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