CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 174

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]

172

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[17723]

[May 18 CO

SECTION 4.18595

No. 1.

RECR REG 18 JUN 10

Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received May 18.)

(No. 134.) Sir,

Peking, April 30, 1910. IN my despatch No. 108 of the 14th instant, reporting upon the political situation in China, I stated that I would ask the military attaché, on his return to Peking, to draw up a short memorandum upon the various military mutinies that have occurred lately and the reasons which, in his opinion, led to these acts of insubordination.

I now have the honour to enclose a memorandum on these lines with which Lieutenant-Colonel Willoughby has furnished me, and which gives a succinct summary of these disturbances and their probable causes.

I have, &c.

W. G. MAX MÜLLER.

Enclosure in No. 1.

Memorandum by Lieutenant-Colonel Willoughby on the Indiscipline in the Chinese Army.

(No. 6.)

IN my "Changes Report" for 1909* I stated that, during the year, the discipline of the Chinese regular army, and its relations with the civil population, had been generally satisfactory, noting merely one or two exceptions to this general rule,

During the past few months, however, this favourable state of things has undergone a change for the worse, and a wave of indiscipline seems to be passing over the troops of Central and South China, mutinous outbreaks having occurred at several widely separated places, and desertions having become frequent.

I have visited many of the places and the troops in which these instances of indiscipline have occurred, and have conversed everywhere with soldiers of all ranks.

A brief account of these various outbreaks, of the manner in which they were dealt with, and a consideration of the reasons that appear to have led up to them, are of interest at the present juncture.

At Canton on the 10th February, a disturbance, due to the arrest of a soldier of the local regulars by the police, rapidly assumed dangerous proportions. The soldier was rescued by his comrades, the constable killed and the police station demolished. The soldiers then defied their officers who endeavoured to restore order, and mutinied and started burning barracks. The city gates were shut, provincial and Manchu troops, and sailors, were promptly employed by the local authorities against the rebels, and a large number were killed, the conflict being an unequal one, owing to the fact that the mutineers were short of arms and ammunition. By the evening of the 13th February they had dispersed over the country and were being hunted down or surrendering, and the disturbance may be considered to have ended on that date. The action of the local officials in the matter of regard for foreign life and property appears to have been perfectly correct, and neither the mutineers nor the troops acting against them seem to have been animated by anti-foreign feeling. Adverse criticism of the drastic measures adopted by the local officials has not been wanting, in official circles in Peking, the loss of life and consequent possible unpopularity of military service being deplored; probably, however, the prompt action of the Viceroy cut short a disturbance that might easily have assumed more formidable proportions.

At Soochow on the 11th February a riot, in which some 200 to 300 soldiers of the 46th Infantry (regulars) were concerned, took place. Being denied admittance to a theatre, unless they paid full prices, the soldiers started wrecking Japanese shops and attacked four British subjects, who were unwise enough to venture on the scene

[2751 s-4]

*

Report No. 18, dated December 23, 1909.