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Military Council at Nanking or to assume command of
Kuangsi, his native province. There seems to be no
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doubt that General Li's henchmen in the Canton Government
are nervous for their posts, including the Treasurer, lir
Feng Cho-wan, whose visit to myself was reported in my
secret despatch of 20th September; and I must admit,with
regret,that friendliness towards Hong Kong on the part
of Cantonese officials is frequently a sympton of
insecurity at home. Ir. Liang Shih-yi today assured me that General Cheung will remain in Hong Kong for the time being he is said now to be in Wanchai, - and that he will agree to act as General Li's subordinate, but will not go to Canton until the details of what would in
effect be a duumvirate have been arranged. But at the
moment of writing I am unable to arrive at any clear
view of the Canton situation.
7.
As to Swatow, the present facts at any rate are plain. On about the 23rd September, the threat to that port by the "communist" armies of Generals Ho Lung and
Ip Ting, mentioned in paragraph 9 of my last despatch
took definite shape. The officials and troops owning allegiance to Canton fled in good time and the town was left to the mercy of peasants' and labourers' organisations. Varying tales of looting and extortion have reached this Colony and certain well-known extremists are stated to have reappeared and assumed office. A proclamation in familiar bolshevist terms, issued by the se gentry, urges the peasants and labourers to unite with the small merchants for the realisation of true revolution. Nevertheless, there is no report of the horrible outrages which accompanied the bolshevist régime in Hunan and elsewhere. This may indicate an underlying scheme
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