[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
110
38
C.I.D. 786-B.
[February 23, 1927.]
SECTION 5.
No. 1.
Acting Consul-General Brenan to Sir Austen Chamberlain.—(Received
F 1719/67/10]
(No. 6.) Sir,
February 23.)
Canton, January 17, 1927. WITH reference to my telegram No. 5 of the 13th instant, I have the honour to enclose herewith for your information a copy of my despatch No. 8 to His Majesty's Minister, Peking.
I have, &c.
J. F. BRENAN.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
(No. 8.) Sir,
Acting Consul-General Brenan to the Minister, Peking.
Canton, January 17, 1927. THE recent events at Hankow and Kinkiang have had their repercussion in Canton. A violent agitation has been worked up in the press, where the incidents are described as further massacres of Chinese by the British. It was stated in the local papers that the political department of the military headquarters held a meeting on the 11th January and passed a resolution that a protest movement against the Hankow massacre should be carried on for a week from the 15th January. Mr. Sun Fo had previously sent a telegram to Canton explaining that British armed marines unreason- ably interfered with a crowd who were listening to political lectures outside the custom house, mortally wounding two and injuring others. Mr. Sun Fo is the Minister of Communications in the Nationalist Government and I enclose the full text of his telegram as published in the "Canton Gazette. On the 14th January seven anti- British telegrams were despatched and published by various local bodies in Canton. Amongst others the political branch of the Navy Department urged the people to unite under the Kuomintang flag and indulge in mortal combat with the British imperialists, whilst the Whampoa military students' union pledged themselves to fight to the death for the overthrow of British imperialism. The general labour union held a meeting to discuss the capture of the Shameen concessions, and although the meeting was apparently stopped by the police, the general agitation became so threatening that I requested the senior naval officer and the Municipal Council to put the concession defences in order and generally to be ready to repel a mob attack.
Similar action was taken in the French concession, the barbed wire entangle- ments round the island were renewed, machine-gun posts were prepared and such arrangements as are possible were made to evacuate women and children in an emergency. At the same time the French consul and I both warned the Ministry for Foreign Affairs that an attack on the concessions would meet with a vigorous defence, and that the Hankow tactics would not be successful here. The American consul- general impressed on Mr. Wai of the Foreign Office the folly of allowing a mob to storm Shameen, where, he said, "neutral" interests were greater than in the Hankow concession and "neutrals" might be drawn into the conflict. The Japanese consul- general and Mr. Saburi, who happened to be here at the time, had interviews with General Li Chai-sum at which I understand the seriousness of the situation was emphasised. An anti-British demonstration was planned for the 15th January and then postponed to the 16th January when it passed off quietly, the consuls having all received written assurances from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs that it would not be allowed to approach Shameen and that no disturbance would be permitted.
3. I cannot say whether this was due to the obvious fact that Shameen intended to defend itself by force and the presence of ten gunboats in port, or to the representa- tions of the "neutral" consuls, or to the instructions which General Li Chai-sum said that he had received from the Nationalist Government to allow no trouble with the
[34 2—5]
* Not printed.
B
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