Sessional_Paper_1926 — Page 114

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TRANSLATION.

(Extract from Man Kwok Yat l'o, Canton, 27th August, 1926)

Communique of Member Sun

Opinions of our Party and Government regarding

the Sino-British negotiations.

(From the Central News Agency)

Workmen! Fellow-countrymen! The tragedy of May the 30th was the first voice raised in China against the Imperialists. The Shaki Tragedy is the Chinese Anti- Imperialist overture. Certainly the Canton-Hong Kong Strike is a strong weapon of our Anti-Imperialist Chinese people. Looking back we see that the Strike, on its first out- break, was limited to a single locality, and its influence was very weak. After the establishment of the National Government, however, the Strike movements spread to Chiu Chau and Swatow in the East River region, to Pak Hoi, King-chau and Ngai-chau in the South and even throughout the whole of Kwong Tung. This shows that the Anti- Imperialist Strike has grown in extent every day, and at the same time the foundation of our Revolutionary Government has ever become stronger. In particular, when the 2 Kwongs have been unified, the progress made by the Northern Expeditionary Armies and the Revolutionary Masses, and the sound and firm footing secured by our Revolutionary Government have put the Imperialists in greater terror. The Strike has lasted for over å year, and I have no need to mention that the workmen have suffered great hardship. But taking the interest of our people and our revolution into consideration, we cannot fail to support the Strike to the end. Moreover, our National Government is one which repre- sents the people in their interests, they have still more to exert themselves to support the Strike until final victory is achieved. During the past several months, some tame dogs of the Imperialists charged the National Government with having no desire for a settle- ment, and created all sorts of rumours in order on the one hand to damage the National Government which is a kind mother of the workmen, and on the other to injure the strik- ers, who are brave sons of the National Government. To our credit, however, after official negotiations had been held by the official delegations sent by both Parties-Eugene Chen, the Foreign Minister, Sung Tsz Man, the Financial Commissioner and Ku Mang Yu, Director of the Propaganda Department under the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, sent by our National Government, and the Attorney General, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and the British Consul-General at Shameen, by the other Party-all-false charges of insincerity brought against us previously were withdrawn without any counter- argument on our part. The Sino-British negotiation has been held. What is the result? The British Imperialists not only have no sincere desire for a settlement, but have also taken the strike as a thing of the past, and proposed to negotiate on the Anti-British boy- colt. And this is not all they also proposed an industrial loan, that is to say, the Im- perialists in Hong Kong desired to give a loan to the National Government for the open- ing of Whampoa on condition that a loopline is constructed to link up the Canton- Kowloon Railway and the Canton-Hankow Railway, and an English accountant and engineer are employed. Alas! the British Imperialists are indeed very clever. They know that when Whampoa has been laid out as a commercial port, Hong Kong will not only lose its economic control over Kwong Tung, but will also be turned into a useless district. Therefore they do not grudge giving an industrial loan in the hope that they may carry out their intrigues of monopolizing Whampoa and thus reducing it to a second Kow- loon. Since such devilish plots are hatched by British Imperialism to entrap us Chinese, we cannot fathom their intrigues. Thus how can we Chinese accept their proposal at the Sino-British negotiations? It teaches us that the British Imperialists have no sincero desire for a settlement, and how can we then come to any settlement with them? Thus we must combine together, and support our Anti-Imperialist van-guards, the Canton-Hong