893.01/11–349
The Consul General at Hong Kong (Rankin) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 14.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that in contrast to the relatively uneventful preceding month, October brought a series of important developments affecting the political and economic position of Hong Kong. The earliest of these was the setting up in Peking on October 1 of a Communist regime, which Soviet Russia promptly recognized as the de jure Government of China. Neither action occasioned surprise in the Crown Colony, but they brought home to everyone the fact that time was running out, and that the United Kingdom might at any moment be forced to take a formal position on recognizing Communist China.
The early days of October brought reports that the Communist advance on Canton had begun in earnest. By the “Double Tenth” (October 10) they were only seventy miles from the Kwangtung [Page 577] capital, along the Canton–Hankow Railway. Such progress influenced the celebration of this major Chinese holiday in Hong Kong, with the local Communists attempting to make it appear as a Red Field Day and the Chinese Nationalists also putting on a brave front. The Hong Kong police took extra precautions and outdoor demonstrations were banned, with the result that no incidents of consequence were reported. Rallies and receptions were held indoors, however, and the huge Kam Ling Restaurant accommodated both a Nationalist meeting on one floor and a Communist women’s celebration two floors above. The food at both affairs was doubtless equally expensive.
A local Communist daily on October 10 included a supplement in the form of a red paper flag, which accounted for a considerable portion of the Communist emblems displayed on the streets. The British have never insisted that private persons fly the Union Jack along with other flags in Hong Kong, and the net result on the Double Tenth was a more or less equal number of Nationalist and Communist flags on display with the majority of the population evidently indifferent to the whole matter. (They refer to the Chinese Communist flag as “Chinese-Russian”). President Truman’s telegram of congratulations to Acting President Li Tsung-jen,44 and Chiang’s message to the nation were both prominently featured in the press.
The Communist armies reached Canton on October 15 and all regular means of communication with Hong Kong, by rail, river and air, were suspended. Such reports as came through indicated that the turnover had been orderly on the whole. The police remained on duty and looting was not serious, while no one appears to have molested the remaining foreigners, who included some fifty Americans. The only immediate catastrophe was the demolition of the steel highway bridge across the Pearl River, which appears to have been carried out by the retreating Nationalists and occasioned heavy civilian casualties.
While the occupation of Canton passed off as peacefully as could have been expected, developments along the Hong Kong frontier were even more gratifying to the British authorities. Only a handful of Nationalist soldiers sought refuge in the Colony, while regular Communist troops apparently did not approach closer than twenty-five miles from the frontier. Communist guerrilla units occupied the Chinese border posts but caused no trouble. During the first week after the fall of Canton some 18,000 refugees were recorded as entering the Colony; this number dropped to 900 the following week and a net outward movement was in prospect. At the close of October no regular Communist formations had appeared at the frontier, and all was quiet. However, British efforts to obtain Communist agreement on reopening rail service to Canton had produced no results, and it was feared that such action might be made contingent upon British recognition of [Page 578] the Peking regime. The negotiations in this case were handled by a British railway official, who went to Canton for the purpose. Meanwhile, Hong Kong was following with great interest press reports of more formal negotiations between British and Chinese officials in Peking.
The suspension of normal transportation facilities between Hong Kong and Canton by no means stopped all movement between these cities. The Police Commissioner informed me that a general exodus of prominent Communists from Hong Kong occurred after the fall of Canton. In fact, he said that they had combed out the faithful with great care and had included everyone of any value in order to fill administrative posts in Kwangtung. The Commissioner regarded this as a good riddance for Hong Kong and seemed more than ever confident of his ability to prevent serious internal disorders. He fears nothing from local students and does not believe that the rank and file of labor will support political strikes on a large scale.
The arrival in Hong Kong on October 21 of no less than eight foreign ambassadors from Nanking, via Shanghai, inevitably started a new crop of rumors as to Chinese Communist intentions, and more particularly as to the possibilities of early recognition by the Western Powers of the Communist regime. In conversation with me, both the British Ambassador45 (whom I knew in Belgrade in 1945) and the Australian Ambassador were non-committal, but others quote them as having admitted that they were recommending recognition as soon as possible. Neither gave any comfort to the personal representative in Hong Kong of Acting President Li Tsung-jen, who had been instructed to interview them privately. He (General S. K. Yee) informed me subsequently, however, that Sir Ralph Stevenson did not expect the British Government to act favorably on his recommendations as to recognition for some weeks at least.
An interesting prediction was made by the Indian Ambassador46 in private conversation with the Australian Trade Commissioner. It was that the Chinese Communist regime would soon demand publicly the return of Dairen-Port Arthur to full Chinese sovereignty; the Soviets would then immediately accede, ostensibly at least, and the way would be prepared for a similar demand that the British hand over Hong Kong. The Indian Ambassador also is quoted as favoring early recognition of the Chinese Communists.
An official whose opinion on the political situation was not sought arrived from Canton on October 12—the erstwhile Soviet Chargé d’Affaires, Vladimir Varshov, whose transit through the Colony with his staff was facilitated on urgent instructions from London.
[Page 579]The Belgian Ambassador, Edouard le Ghait, who was Spaak’s47 Chef de Cabinet when I was stationed in Brussels, elaborated his views to me at considerable length. An intelligent man, with no apparent Communistic leanings, he is convinced that Mao and his confreres will not remain subservient to Moscow. He described the discipline and honesty of the Communist armies as unprecedented for China. He favors recognition and believes that we should try to get along with them. The Ambassador indicated that these views represented the consensus of opinion among his colleagues from Nanking.
All of which suggests that the possibility of Red China’s taking a line independent of Red Russia should not be excluded. But in view of Mao’s own pronouncements and actions to date, there would appear to be more tangible grounds for assuming that Communist China will follow, for an indefinite period, the pattern established by Russia, Certainly it would seem only common prudence to expect the second alternative, and to plan accordingly, while hoping that the first may materialize and preparing to take advantage of it in that event. A British official in Hong Kong suggested to me that some of the Nanking diplomats may have been too close to the Chinese problem of late; the bamboo curtain may have obscured their view of the larger issues of world Communism.
Hong Kong continued to receive visits from important visitors from London. In the last days of October both Field Marshal Sir William Slim, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and Mr. David Rees Williams, Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, were in the Colony at the same time. Their presence inspired further confidence in the intentions of the British Government to maintain its position in Hong Kong, However, they made no statements which would support the remarks credited to Australian Foreign Minister Evatt on October 25, to the effect that Communist China must agree to respect the territorial integrity of its neighbors, “notably Hong Kong”, as a prerequisite to recognition; also that the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia were in “complete accord” on their attitudes toward the New Chinese regime.
Respectfully yours,