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(d) The Shameen authorities employed Dumdum or soft-nosed bullets, illegal under International Law even in war.
To strengthen the Chinese evidence, a set of, resolutions passed by the American staff of the Canton Christian College and a letter of sympathy from the German merchants residing in Tungshan are also printed in the pamphlet. It was a grave oversight on the part of the Commissioners to have included in their report two documents which were com- pletely discredited immediately they were published.
It has been mentioned that after May 30th serious anti- foreign disturbances occurred at several places. There were sure indications that the hostility was augmented in the south. And Bolshevism had found abode in Canton. The late Dr. Sun Yat Sen made friendly overtures to Soviet Russia, which were accepted with alacrity. But it was not until after his death that Bolshevism became a power in the land. Then Foreign Communism and Chinese Nationalism—- the symbol of China's undefined status-became joined; and maybe they will be condemned, like the guilty lovers in Dante's Inferno, to journey to the end together. From June 6th there was civil war in Canton between the Red army officered by Russians-the locally famous Whampoa Cadets- and the Yunnanese army, who were mercenaries brought in by Dr. Sun Yat Sen to uphold his régime. By the middle of June anti-foreignism was rampant, sponsored by students who were guided here, as elsewhere, by Russian Bolsheviks. A universal strike was decreed to starve Hongkong into ignominious surrender: exactly for what was not clear, but presumably it was because Hongkong, being a British colony, should be held responsible for the actions of the International Police at Shanghai. It was natural, then, in view of the general atmosphere of distrust and dislike—to say nothing of
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the domination of the Bolsheviks in Canton that precautions should be taken against mob violence, for human nature is ever a product of circumstances, education and opportunity. As subsequent events proved, it was a wise precaution.
A preliminary outrage occurred on June 20th, when two Japanese crossing the East (French) bridge into Canton city were shot, one being killed and the other wounded. The circumstances of the attack made it impossible to accept the alleged motive of robbery, although the unfortunate men had with them a large sum of money. To have deprived them of the money a few yards further on, in the city itself, would have been a safe undertaking. By the 22nd June Shameen was entirely deserted by Chinese and foreigners were practically cut off from communication with the city. On that day it was known, even, in Hongkong, that a demonstration would be held on the 23rd, and that the strikers were determined to enter Shameen and create an incident. We may reasonably suppose that it was at Bolshevik suggestion, for it was admittedly a part of Zinoviev's foreign policy (vide Appendix A). The British Consul-General immediately wrote to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Canton Govern- ment, stating what he had heard and warning the Govern- ment that the Shameen forces would resist with arms any attack on the Concession (vide Appendix B).
It was also observed, on the 22nd, that machine-guns had been placed in several Chinese buildings opposite Shameen, on the other side of the creek.
On the following day the demonstration took place. It was a parade of defiance. The demonstrators deliberately walked half-way round Shameen, supported by fully-armed troops in great numbers. The student demonstrators made
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