CO129-501-5 Chinese situation- Recognition of Canton Government 22-7-1927 - 28-9-1927 — Page 23

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changing with such caleidoscopic frequency that

it is desirable to put on record the situation

obtaining in the Eighteen Provinces at the time

when this memorandum is transmitted to you:-

i. Kuangtung province is nominally under the

control of the Nanking clique of the Kuo-min-tang.

In fact it is under the dictatorship of General

Li Chai-sum, a native of the adjacent Kuang-hsi

province. This youthful War Lord is believed to

be anti-red in his opinions, but he is at the

head of an administration which has climbed into

power over the back of bolshevised labour, and

which cannot afford to antagonize labour unions

or to be openly friendly with "imperialists".

General Li's policy is, therefore, marked by much

vacillation and is in no respect thorough. It may

safely be said that his main preoccupation is to

consolidate his personal position as tu-chun of

the province and that all else, including the

nature of his political affiliation with the Nanking

clique, is governed by this dominant consideration.

He has many enemies within the province and he is

threatened with attack by "red" armies operating

both from Hunan and Kiangsi.

ii. News from Kuang-hsi is not easily obtained,

for there is no longer a British consulate at Wuchow

and foreigners have evacuated the province. The War

Lord of Kuang-hsi at present is General Fan Shek-shang,

whose home is in this province which has for a long

past been a law to itself. It is believed that

General Fan is on good terms with General Li Chai-sum,

Time

Λ

the War Lord