CO129-520-1 Chinese situations 20-12-1929 - 27-1-1931 — Page 69

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10. The present would seem to be a suitable

occasion to attempt some estimate of the general position

and in particular of the causes which led to the

recurrence of civil war throughout the country. For this

purpose a useful text is provided by a manifesto, of Enclo. No. 2. which a translation is enclosed, circulated by Comrade

Wong Tsing-wai and his adherents on the eve of the attack

52701/28 (2)

on Canton. Wong Tsing-wai has been frequently the

subject of reference in my despatches, and in particular

I would draw Your Lordship's attention to my secret

despatch of December 10th, 1927, which contains an account

and criticism of the views which he expressed at that

time. A man of poor physique, emotional character, and

subtle rather than straightforward mentality, Wong

nevertheless commands to no small extent the respect of

the Chinese. He is, it is said, the only possible

sucessor to Chiang Kai-shek.

Outmanoeuvred by Chiang at

the time of the election for the third term of a Central

Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, with his associates in disgrace or even expelled from the Party, he retired

to Europe to await the time when it would be necessary

for Chiang's opponents to look to him as a leader.

11. Wong Tsing-wai himself is to this extent consistent that he has always tended towards the so-

called left wing of the Kuomintang, which was used by Chiang with such success in the past, but was jettisoned

by him when it ceased to be useful and even became

dangerous. Recommencing their intrigues after

the debacle, the Left Wing rechristened themselves the "Barty of Reorganization", inviting support for the policy of restoring to the Kuomintang its original

revolutionary