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of the 5th November in conformity with instructions
received from the senior Minister. The other members of the diplomatic body agreed with the action so sug- gested, it being in their view impossible to pass over Mr. Ch'en's affront in silence. But Mr. O'Malley pointed out that Mr. Ch'en would almost certainly reply in a further provocative communication dealing with the status of the diplomatic body and the Nationalist Govern- ment, which would of course be published in Canton and might not be less difficult to leave unanswered. It was not clear to him that this sort of public controversy as calculated to preserve the dignity of the diplomatic body (Peking telegram to Foreign Office No. 465 of the 25ta November). The matter then dropped.
39.
Meanwhile the storm centre shifted from Canton
to Hankow, where the native staff of the Chinese Maritime Customs, with official instigation and support of the Chinese Superintendent of Customs, a Bolshevized Cantonese. formed a Custom's employees union. The inaugural meeting was held on the 21st November under the auspices of the Superintendent, who openly urged the meeting that the Customs Union should support the Southern Government and remain firm until the Customs administration was taken back, asking why, since the Customs was a department of the Chinese Government, was it being managed by foreigners. The intention was that the Customs staff at Yochow, Hankow and Kiukiang should go on strike together: and the Commissioner of Customs at Hankow considered the movement a deliberate attempt to wreck the Customs service. (Peking telegram to Foreign Office No. 470 of the 26th November). Proof that the movement was purely political
and
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