2
It is needless to say that his control over the latter is firmly established, and as practically every Chinese outside China has enlisted under his banner, the influence he wields is enormous. In their ranks are to be found most of the foreign-educated Chinese, who understand newspaper propaganda thoroughly, and who carry it on in a most efficient manner in the columns of the press at home and abroad. They are used not only for the dissemination of his political views, but of his Socialistic views also; and in South China at least he is, in the eyes of the populace, regarded as the saviour of his country, inuch in the same way as Gandhi is in India.
4. The capture of the strike movement by Sun Yat-sen's party-the Kuo Min Tang-is simple to state and easy to understand. To describe what were the other contributing factors towards a situation which, had it been prolonged, would have gravely endangered the economic life of Hong Kong and South China as a whole, and might have led to riot and the shedding of blood, foreign and Chinese, is much more difficult. These factors are to be sought for, generally speaking, in the changes which have come over the spirit of the entire world since the Great War, in particular in the changes which have come over the spirit of China since the revolution of 1911, and in a lack of mental adaptability on the part of the foreign population in China and Hong Kong, evinced by a failure to grasp the nature and the extent of such changes. would be as idle to deny that the mental outlook of the average non-Chinese on life had, as a result of the war, suffered a radical metamorphosis, as it would be to gainsay the fact that the revolution and the war combined had profoundly affected the Chinese outlook on life. These modifications of character, as is well known, have brought about some very startling results, not the least surprising of which is the germination and the florescence of that most vigorous plant in the new Chinese arboretum-racial or national pride. As is the case with most youthful plants and animals, it is exceedingly sensitive, and, to leave it out of account in the discussion of any present day questions affecting China, is to commit a cardinal error.
It
5. Many years ago I committed myself to the statement that there was only one adjective in the English language fitted to describe the ignorance of Hong Kong with regard to the mainland-abysmal. Although since then there have been enlightenment, it was only the other day that Lord Northcliffe remarked to me how of more Signe struck he had been by the fact that, amongst those he met during his short stay in the colony, he had found hardly anyone who knew anything about China, or who seemed to care anything at all about the great country next door. A disposition was displayed to treat Kwangtung more or less as a suburb of Hong Kong, which, seeing that the Liang Kuang have a population of 49,000,000 against a non-Chinese population in Hong Kong of 25,000 (Chinese over 600,000), is indicative of a strange lack of proportion. It need not excite wonder, therefore, if the Chinese, who do not suffer from so distorted a vision, regard the relative position from a totally different standpoint.
A parallel instance is afforded in the case of Shanghai, where amongst the non-Chinese community a similar state of ignorant apathy prevails, only in a less degree.
6. In Hong Kong there exists a large body of well-trained and efficient Government servants, but those in the higher and more responsible positions were trained in China under the Empire, and have had little or no opportunity since of absorbing the atmosphere of the republic-more especially that of the south-which does not fail to permeate anyone living within its ambient, as I do. The two heads of Government, his Excellency the Governor and the Colonial Secretary, are entirely non-conversant with Chinese, and are thus entirely in the hands of their advisers. Misunderstandings and lack of co-operation are thus liable to arise which prejudice public business, and I regret to have to state that on more than one occasion during the course of the strike lack of information placed me in an anomalous position, notably when the Colonial Government, without previous warning, suddenly closed the railway to the departing strikers and to all Chinese who did not hold police permits. I was naturally called upon by the Chinese authorities for an explanation, but had none to give until the afternoon of the following day. General Ch'en Chiung-ming caused me to be informed that he considered such a step, taken without prior consultation, indicative of a lack of courtesy, and asked what would have been said had he, on his side, closed the railway without warning. In passing on this remonstrance, I concurred with his opinion-a concurrence which gave rise to no little offence, and a petulant enquiry as to whether or not I expected daily bulletins." I understand that complaints of a similar nature have been voiced by the Admiral and the General Officer Commanding, and, in so far as keeping in touch with Canton is concerned, by the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce, which proposes, in collaboration with the Government, shortly
>
3
#
to initiate a system of co-ordinating information. Whilst the collection and co-ordination of information and intelligence is of great utility, experience has demonstrated that what is of much higher importance is its classification and a capacity to select such of it as is of real value. Thus it would appear to have escaped the notice of the Hong Kong Government and of the Intelligence Departments that, long prior to the strike, there were in the colony elements at work of a subversive nature, which in no small measure later on assisted in organising intimidation and a general "walk-out." A harrister in Hong Kong, whose professional work has brought him into contact with these elements, informed me early in September of last year that these Bolshevik undercurrents were likely to constitute a real danger in the event of any dispute arising between foreigners and Chinese, and this forecast has not proved erroneous, He stated that amongst the "Hong Kong born," Eurasians and Chinese, there was growing up a feeling of resentment against the " arrogance of the British, and a determination to wrest out of their hands the control of the colony, whose material prosperity was mainly built up by Chinese labour and capital. The recent agitation of the Constitutional Reform Society for increased non-official representation on the Legislative and Executive Councils-to be confined to British subjects, of whom, male and female, there are only 8,000 against 600,000 Chinese was an additional grievance, and, should His Majesty's Government favourably entertain the proposals put forward by the society in question, there is certain to arise an outcry for proportional Chinese representation, which, in these days of "self-determination" and other popular shibboleths, it will be hard to resist. It may, in this connection, be not inapposite to recall a statement made in one of my previous reports to the effect that, by the hot-headed Neo-Republicans on the mainland, the Hong Kong Government is anathematised as being non-constitutional and non-representative. (I may mention that I found myself confronted with a somewhat similar situation in Shanghai in 1919, when officiating there as consul-general, in the shape of a demand by the Chinese Street Union for representation on the International Municipal Council.)
As a further instance of Hong Kong's self-centred and insular outlook may be cited the complacence with which, in certain circles, at the final stage of the crisis, when things on the mainland were becoming extremely serious owing to the shooting of the returning strikers, it contemplated attacks ou foreign life and property in Kwangtung, and the regret expressed that none such had occurred, as thereby the British navy had been deprived of an opportunity of teaching the Chinese a lesson.
LL
7. Taking the above into consideration, it is impossible not to help feeling that the Hong Kong Government and the shipowners committed an initial error in making up their minds that the strike must be broken," instead of deciding that the wisest course would be to "settle" it as speedily as possible, before the various unions had, under skilful leadership, the time to coalesce and to prove their united strength, This strength was throughout underestimated. In fact, writing privately on the 22nd January, his Excellency the Governor informed me that the strike was weakening; that, if they were not frightened, at least 70 per cent. of the men would return to work; that, if the men would not be reasonable, thousands of them would be thrown out of work permanently; that cessation of trade would hurt Canton more than Hong Kong, &c. The position in which the colony found itself on the 4th and 5th March did certainly not go to show that such optimism was in any degree warranted.
8. The ultimate settlement has been denounced as an indication of weakness and a surrender to the Chinese, which will result in a pistol constantly being held to the head of the foreigner. Such criticism savours of the alleged habits of the ostrich. For good or lor evil, trade unionism has established itself in China, as it has done all over the world, and is a factor which must be reckoned with. It is quite true that, encouraged by the success of his efforts in getting the seamen's wages raised, Hsieh Ying-po, the moving spirit behind the strike, is organising, under the auspices of the Mutual Aid Society, a grand amalgamation of all trade unions in Kwangtung, Hong Kong and Macao, but this cannot be helped, and, should they make improper use of their strength, the contingency has to be faced, as it has had to be, and is at present being, faced in other parts of the world. So long, however, as the present civil Governor remains in office, there is hope that reasonable counsels will prevail.
A
9. As has been pointed out by the well-informed Canton correspondent of the "North China Daily News," in a letter to that paper, dated the 17th February "Through the increasing intercourse with the outside world the workers of China are learning that in other lands the people of their class have a larger life with fuller opportunities of enjoyment, and they are beginning to be discontented and to demand a share of what others have." It is to the satisfaction of this demand that Hsieh
284
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.