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Of the members of the Kuomintang in this province and Hong Kong, less than 10 per cent. are imbued with Communistic principles, the rest being too apathetic or too ignorant to take an intelligent interest in the conduct of affairs: by the extremist section of the former. This section is under the leadership. of Chiang Chung-cheng (or Chiang Kai-shek), an extremely able and unscrupulous individual, who received a military training in Japan and Germany, has the closest relations with Moscow, and is at the moment head of the military school at Whampoa. Collaborating with him are the late Civil Governor, Liao Chung-K'ai, head of the labour unions, and Tsou Lu, presid of the university. These three are rapidly establishing a dictatorship, which is likely, in the near future, to prove all powerful. Whereas they have nominally at their disposal a force of only some 7,000 to 8,000 men, in which are included officers, cadets and Russians, their potential strength lies in members of the labour and agricultural unions, who, in lots of 200 to 300 at a time undergo one month's intensive training in rifle-target practice, and are then dismissed to their homes to be called out and armed when necessary. The unlimited supplies of money, rifles, Thompson and machine guns and ammunition, which they receive regularly from Russia, enable this military training to be carried on continuously."*
By the 13th June the Yunnanese were driven from the city and many of them, massacred (see Naval Intelligence Summary, Annex V). The victors Kuomintang. labour unions, cadets and Russians-at once began to utilise the news of the Shanghai shooting on the 30th May as propaganda to win popularity for themselves and establish their position. The general strike in Hong Kong and South China ports commenced on the 20th June. At Canton a monster demonstration in front of the foreign concession at Shameen was arranged for the 23rd June. As it was generally believed that this would be made an occasion for creating an incident similar to that at Shanghai, His Majesty's consul-general sent a special note of warning to the Canton Government (see Annex IV). The demonstration took place. and soldiers on the Canton side opened fire on Shameen (though no Chinese will probably ever admit this); the fire was returned by the foreign troops in Shanice (French and British) and some fifty-two Chinese were killed, of whom about half were soldiers carrying arms (for details of the incident see accounts by His Majesty' consul-general, by Commander Maxwell Scott, R.N., and by Mr. Fu Ping-ch'ang un Annexes VI, V and VII, and for details regarding Chinese killed and wounded see Annex VIII). No women were killed. On the Shameen side, one French civilian was killed, and there were French, British and Japanese wounded. Foreign women and children were at once evacuated to Hong Kong, and the British garrison at Shameen was strengthened by two platoons of Indian troops. On the 26th June the Canton Commissioner for Foreign Affairs addressed the following "five demands to the British and French consuls-general (see Annex VII):
"Inasmuch as the recent massacres of Chinese subjects constitutes a complete abrogation of all the laws of humanity and cannot, by universal law. be tolerated, we make the following demands:
"1. Apologies will be made by High Commissioners appointed by the
Powers interested to the Government of Canton.
2. The senior officers responsible shall be punished.
3. With the exception of two despatch vessels, all naval units of the
Powers interested shall be withdrawn.
4. Shameen shall be returned to the Government of Kwangtung and
placed under the administration thereof.
5. The victims and their families shall be compensated."
The French Minister and British Chargé d'Affaires at Peking instructed their representatives at Canton to reply that they were unable to take such demands into consideration (Peking telegram No. 175 of the 29th June). Meanwhile, the strike
• For a general review of political conditions at Canton in the summer of 1925, see also Mr. A. L. Scott's memorandum in Annex III.
✦ A memoraudum by Sir R. E. Stubbs on the strike at Hong Kong will be found in Annex IX.
According to a report in Canton telegram No. 14 of the 22nd August; "Latvian customs explore encountered in city in the afternoon of the 20th August a Russian soldier, of whom there are 400, who in an effusire moment volunteered statement: I fired second shot against Shameen on the 23rd June Ivanovitch fired the first, but it took us three weeks to get the promised reward out of Borodin.""
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Powers,
but gradually narrowing down to one against British goods alone. The carrying developed into a boycott-first of the goods of all foreign" Imperialist out of the boycott strengthened the power of the strike committees by giving them revenue (from fines, &c.), which, by the end of the year, was greater than that 496 accruing to the so-called Government. The strike committees have throughont acted virtual masters of Canton. under the guidance of Borodin* and other Russian "advisers"; and they are the
At the end of June, the position of the small foreign community at Shameen (about seventy-five civilians, besides troops) appeared to be a very dangerous one. They were isolated by about 100 miles of hostile river, and were faced by a Chinese city with a population of about 1 million persons, with a rising tide of fanatical anti- foreign feeling, with a weak and treacherous Government, with a trained Communist army, and with an active band of Soviet agents straining every nerve to provoke trouble between Great Britain and China.
On the 7th July (telegram No. 182 to Paris, &c., in F 2944) we consulted the Washington Treaty Powers as to the serious position in China; and as regards Canton, we said
The aggressive attitude of the Communist Government now installed at Canton is proved by recent events, and it is impossible not to feel considerable uneasiness about the position of the foreign community at Shameen, who are on the defensive. The danger presented by Canton is not purely local. The Canton authorities possess, in the Whampoa Officers' Training School, an insti- tution which, as His Majesty's Government are reliably informed. is a distinct military asset. It is partly staffed with Russian instructors, and must be regarded as the possible nucleus of a military force which, under the conditions now prevailing, may seriously effect the whole Chinese situation, incidents appear, in the opinion of His Majesty's naval authorities. to indicate Recent the possibility of a Russo-Chinese attempt to block the passage to Canton.
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The Governments of the Powers were asked for their observations on the dangerous developments throughout China, and the steps which should be taken to meet them. With the exception of France, none of the Powers had much to suggest regarding the Canton situation. The Belgian Government (Brussels telegram No. 72 of the 15th July) were doubtful as to the specifically Communist character of the Canton Government. The Japanese Government (Tokyo telegram No. 171) agreed that Canton was a exaggerated; they considered naval or military action impossible at present, and danger spot," but thought that our apprehensions were that the United States would not consent to it. The French Government replied (Paris despatch No. 1670):-
LL
In the Canton area, where the situation is very complex and uncertain. and may develop in unexpected directions, we must act with the greatest circumspection so as to avoid further outbreaks of xenophobia. But, while limiting our action for the time being to assuring the lives and property of our nationals, we should arrange, so as not to be taken unawares by events, for the establishment of close co-operation between the British and French naval authorities, and, if possible, those of other Powers as well, so as to study the measures to be taken at the first threat of more serious trouble. These measures might aim, for instance, at the institution of surveillance over the ways of access to Canton, the Cantonese authorities being eventually notified of the decision of the Powers themselves to assure liberty of communication between Canton and the sea, as in the north of China between Peking and the sea."
This proposal of the French Government was not pursued further.
The question of operations in China was considered by the Chief of Staffs Sub-Committee on the 25th June (C.I.D. Paper, Secret, No. 617-B). Their general view was that offensive action in China on a large scale was not possible for the British Empire acting alone, and that finality could not be hoped for from any operation within our capacity. As regards Canton in particular, they observed that [at first sight it would appear that the easiest way to strike a blow would be by means
* Ilia official position is that of adviser to the Canton Government and to the Central Committee of the Kintang. There are thirty-eight other Russian "advisers" (Peking despatch No. 851 in F 306). Kalin is mer military adviser, and Smirnov (or Semenov) chief naval adviser (Canton despatch No. 26 of 24th July),
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