893.00P.R./25
The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 22.]
Sir: In accordance with the Department’s instruction No. 78, of October 9, 1925,54 I have the honor to submit the following summary, with index, of events and conditions in China during September, 1929:
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In regard to internal affairs, September witnessed a further strengthening of the conviction that a number of influential factions and individuals of Left Wing or radical affiliations were planning if [Page 174] possible to overthrow General Chiang Kai-shek, whose “dictatorial” methods were engendering increasing bitterness among less successful rival militarists. General Chang Fa-kuei, a leader closely associated with the radical “outs” and in command of some thirty thousand troops garrisoning Ichang, revolted against the Nanking Government during the month and incident thereto is reported to have sent the following message to the Commissioner of Foreign Affairs at Hankow:
“Down with Chiang Kai-shek, up with Wang Ching-wei, long live Feng Yu-hsiang, cooperation with Soviet Russia.”
At the end of September, General Chang was moving his troops through Hunan apparently with the intention of joining forces with General Yu Tso-pah, Chairman of the Kwangsi Provincial Government, who had likewise declared against Nanking. A union between these two elements, should it occur, would be opportunist and less than usually warranted by principle, however, since Kwangsi has been identified with the extreme Eight Wing of the Kuomintang.
Nothing further was heard of Marshal Feng Yu-hsiang’s and General Yen Hsi-shan’s projected trip abroad together; nor was it clear, during September, whether these leaders of the Northwest would support the central authorities or those in opposition to Nanking. Their influence (were their association to remain intact) if thrown to one side or the other, doubtless would determine the result of any controversy between the central government and its opponents.
The following pronouncement was made by “President” General Chiang Kai-shek in relation to the situation:
“It appears to me that to the circulation of rumors there is no end. I have come in especially for denunciation by the rumor-mongers. To clarify my position I wish to make this statement:
“‘I Chiang Chung-cheng, do not hesitate to die for the party and the nation since I have placed my life at the service of both. I will never lose heart, either. I will not waver in my determination whatever the imperialists and reactionaries may do to oust me. I firmly believe that if I offer my life on the altar of the national revolution many of my comrades will follow my example. In a word, the success or failure of the revolution depends on the question whether we can put up a fight.’”
The Reorganization Faction
The following comment is taken from a report by the Consul at Nanking on the growing influence of the opposition movement to the central government:
“Of late, there has occurred a regrouping of opposition forces. The reorganization faction, which consists largely of elements of [Page 175] the former Left Wing of the Kuomintang, is the center of the opposition. The term ‘reorganization’ indicates in no small degree the attitude and plan of this group of opponents to the present National Government. Their opposition is principally directed against the ‘illegal manner’ in which the Government or Center leaders packed the Third National Congress of the Kuomintang, in March last, with seats of ‘appointed’, instead of ‘elected’, delegates. In addition, the Reorganizationists entertain a hostility to the present régime based on the supposition and belief that the Government is not carrying out the political and social theories of the Revolution and that it has relapsed into an acceptance of a capitalistic or even militaristic state, wherein the masses remain inarticulate, impotent, and oppressed as before.”
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Red Cross Report
A commission under Colonel E. P. Bicknell sent out by the American Red Cross to investigate famine conditions in China made public in September a report in which the conclusion was reached that the existing situation did not warrant an appeal to the generosity of the American people. Famine conditions in China were reported to be largely due to the absence of a strong central government and the consequent exactions of war lords, depredations of bandits, and confiscatory taxation.
The local English language press characterized the report as a severe blow to Nanking in its campaign for the abolition of extraterritoriality and as a striking indication of the need for improvement in internal administration. In general, the vernacular press, while inclined to suggest that the report misrepresented conditions in China and was misleading as to the cause of famine, nevertheless urged upon the Chinese Government a consideration of the administrative shortcomings indicated to the end that “the burden of the people of China” might be lightened. The Ta Kung Pao, in an unusually frank editorial, made the comment that were the report to quicken the consciences of Chinese statesmen its effect would be greater than if a contribution of a large sum of money had been made.
Trade in China
Unsettled conditions, due to the activities of irresponsible militarists, have prevailed in eastern Shantung for some time. The following comment on these conditions from the point of view of trade, by the Consul at Chefoo, is quoted as being generally characteristic of China as a whole:
“Economically, the district has been bled white by the various factions in control and things have at last come to the state where the people, for self-preservation, have to protest against the acts of [Page 176] their government. It is a strange thing about the Chinese of this district that the longer you live among them and see them righting adversity, the more you wonder how their trade runs as smoothly as it does. In the midst of anarchy, the commercial instinct seems to prevail. They seem to be oblivious to a fact recognized in most places that law or order is a necessary basis of commerce. Tyranny and exactions from an unarmed population seem to them to be less cause for concern than the buying and selling of merchandise.”
The protest referred to was concerted action of the merchants of the city involving a temporary cessation of the movement of commodities and a procession, on September 20th, in open demonstration against the Government.
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Conditions in Yunnan During August
In a despatch which reached the Legation at the end of September, the Vice Consul in chargé at Yunnanfu reported that in general the situation in August had materially improved over conditions during July (when civil war was rife throughout the northern part of Yunnan) and that the forces which had attacked the provincial Government had been driven from the province. Mr. Chamberlain stated also that a definite improvement could be reported from an economic and business standpoint. According to Chinese customs officials, there was a brisk import trade in August, probably stimulated by an improved exchange rate and by the greater security of internal communications resulting from the trend toward political normalcy.
I have [etc.]
- Not printed.↩