[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[229825]
No. 1.
[December 3.]
SECTION 1.
Mr. Alston to Mr. Balfour.--(Received December 3.)
(No. 313.) Sir,
Peking, September 30, 1917. WITH reference to my despatch No. 279 of the 28th ultimo, I have the honour to report that the Central Government has at last thrown down the gauntlet to the Radical extremists of the South, and by a mandate issued last night the arrest of Sun Yat Sen and his colleagues in the so-called "Military Government" in Canton is ordered.
Two other mandates appeared at the same time, one ordering the establishment of a special bureau for the preparation of the convocation of Parliament, and oue ordering the provincial authorities to send representatives (five) from each province to organise a National Council in Peking within one month. The duties of this Council are to be confined to the revising and passing of the laws for the organisation and election of the Parliament.
These last two mandates were drafted several weeks ago, and their impending promulgation has been often announced, and is often delayed to meet the requirements of the private negotiations which have been in progress between the President and Premier on the one side, and the Military Governors of the south-western provinces on the other, with a view to the discovery of a solution of the constitutional question which would render armed conflict unnecessary.
B.S
Copies of the mandates are enclosed herewith in translation.
Although Sun Yat Sen and the "Rump" Parliament proclaimed the establishment of their "Military Government at Canton on the 10th September, and appointed Inspector-General Lu Yung-ting and the Military Governor of Yunnan, Tang Chi-yao, Field-Marshals," the latter have so far refrained from actively identifying themselves with the movement, which they appear to be using as a pawn in their negotiations with the Central Government, General Lu's object is to secure the appointment of his own nominee to the Military Governorship of Hunan, and General Tang has similar ambitions with regard to Szechuan; the ultimate object being the formation of a union of the south-western provinces, and the consolidation of a military party therein, which could secure for itself advantages corresponding to those now enjoyed by the military party in the North.
The Premier, at least, has no intention of brooking any such rivalry, and the novement of Northern troops towards both Hunan and Szechuan continues. How far the President sees eye to eye with his powerful Minister is doubtful, and the former's preference for Legotiation rather than action has not tended to improve their mutual relations.
The issue of the mandates above described will at least have the effect of clarifying the political situation, the uncertainty of which has hitherto prevented any real progress towards the establishment of a stable Government in this country.
It is too early to judge of the effect produced by the mandates, but it is im robable that a promise of the eventual convocation of a reformed Parliament will suffice to reconcile the extremists, who maintain that the ex-President Li Yuan-hung, and the former Parliament which be dissolved, still constitute the only legal Government in China. The issue, however, is really a military one, and the Southern generals wiil only come out openly on behalf of an outraged constitution if they believe that they have sufficient chance of success to make the venture worth while in their own interests.
It is difficult to see what grounds they can have for such a belief in the absence of any foreign support, and in connection with this aspect of the question I have the honour to invite attention to the enclosed report by His Majesty's consul-general at Canton on the attitude of Sun Yat Sen towards China's relations with the Central Powers.
(Copy to Tokyo.)
[2756 c-1]
I have, &c.
B. ALSTON,
165
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