893.00P.R./28
The Chargé in China (Perkins) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 25.]
Sir: In accordance with the Department’s instruction No. 78, of October 9, 1925,60 I have the honor to submit the following summary, with index, of events and conditions in China during December, 1929:
The first fortnight of the period was a time of extreme tension for the central Government during which its reorganization, together with a diminution of the accepted sphere of its control, seemed to be imminent. After the middle of the month the turn of events was making for increased stability, at least for the time being. In the South, the threat of the establishment of an autonomous government [Page 183] faded with a decisive victory by the Cantonese forces over the Kwangsi faction and General Chang Fa-kwei’s Ironsides. In the North, the settlement of the dispute between China and Soviet Russia resulting from the seizure of the Chinese Eastern Railway brought about the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Manchuria. In Central China, the Shih Yu-san uprising as well as the subsequent and more serious revolt of General T’ang Sheng-chih, whose declaration of independence was thought at first to have the endorsement of as many as seventy lesser generals, was successfully held in check. The center of the latter disturbance was the province of Honan where central Government, Yen Hsi-shan, Kuominchun, and miscellaneous forces were gathered in large numbers. December ended with the pretension if not the actuality of the Nanking Government’s control over the whole country intact and with General Chiang Kai-shek still at its head.
An important element in the situation which remained enigmatic was the relationship in which General Chiang Kai-shek, Marshal Feng Yu-hsiang, and Marshal Yen Hsi-shan stood to one another. Yen Hsi-shan, Vice-Commander of the land, sea, and air forces of the National Government, reaffirmed, in December, his allegiance to the central Government, at the same time consolidating a position of control over all provinces north of the Yellow River, in which region he exercised the power to appoint and dismiss civil officials at his discretion. General Chiang Kai-shek was reported to be prepared to counter General Yen’s growing influence in North China by (temporarily) overlooking past and/or current differences and combining with Feng Yu-hsiang, the foremost of his avowed antagonists. Since his assumption of responsibility for the unsuccessful Kuominchun revolt of November, Feng Yu-hsiang remained at his headquarters in Shansi close to those of Yen Hsi-shan.
Announcement was made by the Chinese Government at the end of December of its decision in principle to abolish extraterritoriality in China as of January 1, 1930, a development which ranked in importance with the acquisition of tariff autonomy early in 1929. It may be noted, in this relation, that, while advance reports indicated a great increase in the customs revenue for the year, largely the result of the increased tariff, the sums collected were very largely spent in connection with incessant military activity.
The Kemmerer Commission of Financial Experts concluded its labors in December and submitted to the Minister of Finance a report of its activities and recommendations, in respect to the financial measures of the Government, which it was hoped would be made public in the near future. In a farewell address to the members of the Commission, Mr. T. V. Soong frankly declared that the Government had [Page 184] been too occupied during the year in defending its mere existence to embark upon any general scheme of reconstruction.
Discussion of the question of the future status of the Shanghai Provisional Court, between delegates of the interested foreign Powers and delegates appointed by the National Government, not concluded during the period under review, began at Nanking on December 9th.61
Kwangsi Disturbances
The month opened with a general engagement expected in a few days between the combined Chang Fa-kwei–Kwangsi forces and the Government troops defending Canton, and with nervousness increasing in the city. By December 6th the attacking forces were almost in contact with the main Cantonese defense line, some thirty miles from the city. Serious fighting along the North River front was reported by the 10th and the nervous tension was becoming acute in Canton. On the 12th the rebels, totaling about 36,000 men, were reported to be in retreat after severe fighting, and the Government felt assured that the danger to the city was past. Later reports indicated a complete victory for the Government troops, and a return to normal conditions in Canton under way. Wuchow was retaken on the 19th. The success of the Cantonese arms was generally attributed to the effective use of airplanes, largely of American manufacture. A victory for the anti-Government elements might have resulted in the establishment of an independent régime in Canton under Mr. Wang Ching-wei. Mr. Wang was expelled from the Kuomintang on December 12th and his arrest ordered.
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The Shih Yu-san and T’ang Sheng-chih Revolts
1. The Shih Yu-san revolt and its effects on the central authorities are described in part as follows by the Consul at Nanking:
“On the night of December 2 a portion of the 24th Division of the First Group Armies, stationed at Pukow, Kiangsu, revolted, looted the town, set fire to a number of buildings, seized all available rolling stock of the Tientsin-Pukow Railway and entrained for the north. The rebels, who were under the leadership of General Shih Yu-san, newly appointed Chairman of the Anhwei Provincial Government, proceeded up the railway only about thirty miles and entrenched themselves against a possible attack from Nanking. It is understood that at the time of the revolt between ten and fifteen thousand of the troops of the 24th Division were in Pukow and that another ten or twelve thousand of the same division were stationed at points along the Tsin-pu Railway not far distant. The troops in Pukow were scheduled to sail from tnat place for Kwangtung to take part in the military operations there against Chang Fa-kwei’s troops and rebellious Kwangsi troops.
[Page 185]“The revolt took Nanking utterly by surprise and caused a panic amongst the central government officials. At the time the Capital was without troops other than the small personal bodyguards of the military leaders and, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed the situation on December 6, 1929, in a conversation with an American journalist: ‘I might myself be a prisoner now if the Pukow mutineers had shown a little more initiative. When they revolted there was nothing in Nanking to stop them from crossing the river and taking possession of the city.’
“The revolt at Pukow, occurring in the face of a serious crisis at Canton, was followed by a revolt of part of the 5th Division on the Shanghai-Nanking Railway and by a military disturbance at Hangchow concerning which details are not available. These latter two incidents, while not serious in themselves, showed clearly the disaffection existing amongst troops supposedly loyal to the central Government.
“On December 6th a small military force in Nanking belonging to Tang Sen-chi was disarmed under orders from Chiang Kai-shek and shortly thereafter it became generally known that Tang Sen-chi had revolted against the central Government.”
The month ended with Shih Yu-san balked but still astride the Tientsin-Pukow Railway, near Pengpu, thereby cutting Nanking’s communications with the North.
2. The following account of the T’ang Sheng-chih revolt is taken from a report by the Consul General at Hankow:
“… The serious problem of suppressing the rebellion of Tang Senchi (T’ang Sheng-chih) in Honan became the uppermost task of the National Government about the middle of the month. From that time to the end of the month practically all political and military activity was centered on devising ways and means either of completely suppressing Tang or else so crippling his authority that he would no longer be a menace to the peace of the country. This problem was all the more difficult because Tang only a few weeks ago had rendered valuable assistance to the central Government in its campaign against Feng Yu-hsiang. The real cause of Tang’s revolt has not been revealed, but so far as I have been able to discover it hinges largely on his request that General Liu Chi give up Hupeh Province and withdraw to Kiangsi thus permitting Tang to again occupy Hankow. This request was peremptorily refused by General Liu and the loss of prestige and the thwarted ambition to again occupy this profitable and strategic center made Tang resolve to take it by force. His army was formidable both in numbers and equipment and in the early stages of his move to capture Hupeh substantial headway was made in the direction of occupying Hankow. A series of circumstances intervened, however, to make the task more difficult than was first expected.
“Among these may be noted (1) an unexpected rally in support of Chiang Kai-shek in lukewarm quarters; (2) the presence of a formidable army under General Liu Chi in northern Hupeh and southern Honan which had not been withdrawn after the campaign against Feng Yu-hsiang; and (3) the deepest snows and coldest weather experienced in Honan and Hupeh in thirty years. While both sides [Page 186] may have suffered because of weather conditions, it is most likely that this was a greater handicap to Tang Sen-chih than to General Liu Chi inasmuch as Tang’s position was more isolated. Reports at Hankow were that many soldiers in the field were frozen to death; certain it is that there was great suffering among the troops. In any event. Tang Sen-chih was not able to drive his way to Hankow, and as this despatch is being written (January 6th) indications are that he is being gradually driven back up the Ping-Han Railway and to the east of the railway as well.”
At the end of the month T’ang Sheng-chih, with a reward of $50,000, Chinese currency, offered by the Government for his capture alive and $30,000 offered to those who might kill him, seemed about to disappear from the political scene. His divisions were held in check but, as is the custom in these politico-military disturbances, they were not definitely routed.
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I have [etc.]
First Secretary of Legation