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opposition to Yuan Shih Kai who became President of China in 1913 and who was accused of being a traitor to the Republic. The Kuomintang was dissolved by Yuan Shih Kai, and was re-organized by Sun Yat Sen at Tokyo in 1914. Yuan Shih Kai died in 1916 after an attempt to restore the monarchy with himself as

as emperor, which consolidated the opposition of the Kuomintang. That party was again re- organized in 1919 as the "Chinese Kuomintang.' In 1920, a National Government was proclaimed in Canton with Sun Yat Sen as President, and its objects became the enforcement of the "Three People's Principles" or "San Min Chu I" of Sun Yat Sen, and the establishment of his Five-Power Constitution. It is interesting to observe that the oath of initiation into the party required members to swear obedience to orders and the observance of secrecy.

33. After various vicissitudes the party established itself at Canton, and its avowed objects became more and more socialistic and anti-foreign. In 1924, Russian assistance was imported by Sun Yat Sen to re-organize the Kuomintang. The party split into two factions of which the more extreme approximated to the Communist party, advocated the unification of China by military force, and encouraged the formation of unions of peasants and labourers to that end.* During the same year the pro-Communist or Communist section of the Kuomintang established itself firmly in Canton, having suppressed the opposition of the Merchant Volunteers.

34. The country was in a state of ferment. A National Labour Conference was held in Canton in May, 1925, with 250 delegates said to represent 570,000 organized labourers. An All-China Labour Federation was formed and it was decided to affiliate with the Red International of Labour Unions. There were serious incidents at Shanghai (30th May), at Hankow and Kiukiang, and Shameen, (the British Con- cession at Canton) (23rd June). This was followed by the Canton-Hong Kong Boycott and General Strike during which about a hundred thousand labourers left. Hong Kong, and which lasted till 10th October, 1926. Meanwhile, on 9th July. 1926, the Northern Expedition was inaugurated under Chiang Kai Shek who had been principal of the Whampoa Military Academy, and was appointed commander- in-chief of the Kuomintang forces, which had been trained and were directed by Russians. In August, a quarrel between the right and left wings of organized labour in Canton led to the passing of regulations by the Canton Government for the settlement of disputes among the labourers. These regulations prohibited the use of arms by labourers. On 23rd September the Political Council of Canton decided to terminate the boycott of Hong Kong. After considerable military success, split between the moderates and extremists in the Kuomintang culminated in April, 1927, with the expulsion of the Communists from the party by Chiang Kai Shek, the closing of the Shanghai General Labour Federation, and the suppression of the Communists in Canton. In December, 1927, occurred a

a Communist coup d'état at Canton, which received no popular support and was quickly suppressed.

a

35. Prior to the inception of the Republic there were no trade unions in the modern sense, and their history for the last twenty-five years is a history of Chinese politics with their rise to power in the radical revolution of 1925-6 and their subsequent decline to practical impotence. In 1926, there were 180 labour unions in Cantont of which only 74 originated from guilds, the remainder being new organizations. They were mostly under two labour federations, the Kwangtung Provincial Federation of Labour Unions and the Labour Congress, which were the Right and Left or Communist Wings. The total union membership was 290,620. Of these 77,932 were members of the Kuomintang. These figures may be con- trasted with those of a survey made in 1937 when in 43 Chinese cities 1,051 unions were found with a total membership of 912,399.¶

36. The first modern strikes occurred in 1913. In 1919, China after signing the Treaty of Saint-Germain became a member of the International Labour Organ-

+

By article 224 of the Provisional Penal Code of the Chinese Republic to organize or take part in a strike

was a criminal offence. This article was repealed by the Kwangtung Provincial Authorities.

+ Y. L. Lee. "Some Aspects of the Labour Situation in Cantou."

"Chinese Labour Conditions in 1937" (in Chinese).