0003160 G.F. 316
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The
found calling for the convening of a National Party Congress and the introduction of democratic processes within the Farty. directive was to have been distributed by the Kwangtung Provincial Committee. The poster described the "United Action Committee" as having been especially active in Shanghai, Tientsin, Nanking and Canton.
3.
The Kwangtung provincial authorities, through the Canton Radio have continued to emphasise the need to increase agricultural production, and young revolutionaries, students and army personnel have been sent to farming areas to help with spring cultivation. Some travellers have mentioned that because of their lack of skill, and because of feeding problems, such work teams were not always welcomed by the production brigades to which they were drafted. Reports regarding the availability of foodstuffs have been too varied to make a meaningful assessment, but several travellers from Canton spoke of a general improvement in the position of food supplies towards the end of the month, and of the queues outside food shops which were reported in the first helf of March but are now no longer seen. An inadequacy of electricity supply, leading to power cuts, has been reported by a usually reliable source and confirmed by travellers from Canton city and some other parts of Kwangtung. In some areas the cuts were said to have interfered with industrial production and farm irrigation, already badly affected by dry weather conditions.
4.
Afforts were made to clean up Canton city in preparation for the Spring Export Commodities Fair, which opened on 15 April and is scheduled to last one month. Posters with which the walls and windows of many areas of the city had been indiscriminately plastered were removed and though the putting up of posters was not banned, it was limited to specially designated positions. Some sources have reported that it has been made known that the military authorities in Canton were not prepared to brook any breach of the peace or incident which might lead to Trade Fair visitors forming adverse impressions. Hovever, a Hong Kong left- wing newspaper published an article by one of its reporters who visited Canton for the opening of the Fair; this stated that rumours of the prohibition of posters had aroused students who held that it was an attempt to hinder the revolution and who under cover of darkness, replaced new posters where old ones had been removed and painted large character slogans on some of the roadways.
5.
Invitations to about 7,000 foreign buyers, 1,000 more than before, are reported to have been issued, but the number of foreign passport holders passing through Hong Kong to attend the Fair has remained substantially the same as for the same period of the Spring and Autumn Fairs held in 1966 (L.I.C. Reports for April, 1966, paragraph 15 and October, 1966, paragraph 14 refer). The number of local Chinese visitors has increased by some 65% over those visiting last year's Spring Fair and is double those visiting the last Autumn Fair. The apprehensions felt in the Autumn by local businessmen about Red Guard activities appear to have beun allayed and in newspaper circles there are more applicants wishing to visit the Fair than can be spared from their offices. Fress reports referred to visitors being welcomed by SUN Cheng Chien, described as a leading member of the Kwangtung Provincial Military Area Command and held here as the Commander of the Kwangtung Military District, and LU Hsu Chang, Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade, but arrivals from Canton have also mentioned the reception of visitors on 23 April by LIAO Cheng Chih, Chairman of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission of the State Council. Right-wing press accounts of CHOU En Lai having visited
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/Canton
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