ORIENTAL INTRIGUE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18629, 9 February 1924, Page 2 (Supplement)

ORIENTAL INTRIGUE.

NQaX>EIOTJS SUN YAT SEN. A POLITICAL FIREBRAND. LIFE OF'ADVENTURES. 'SEEKING FOREIGN ALLIES. " v " ' No. in. The notorious Dr. Sun Yat Sen, who has played such a considerable part iu present-day Chinese politics, is a man who "has a vain opinion of his own capabilities, and he firmly believes himself to.be one of the great ones of the earth. But there is usually a very wide difference between the world's greatest men and its bestknown men; and it is to the latter class that Sun undoubtedly belongs. His activities in the field of Chinese politics and hie penchant for creating mischief wherever he goes has brought him into prominence as a firebrand, and has earned him the reputation of a mischiefmaker. His life has been a series 'of adventures and highly dangerous episodes in Chinese domestic affairs which, at least, on' one occasion, nearly cost him his head. During the royal regime in China, he was, from time to time, compelled to seek safety in flight and to live in exile for various periods in Japan, England, or America. It was in Japan that ho re-, ceived a great part of his education, and, although he came to look upon the land of the rising sun as his foster country, he was in later years to feel the humiliation of receiving notice to quit that remarkable country. In America, too, he appears to have had a certain amount of Western education, for it is said that his mysterious medical title (over which there has been much speculation out- ; East) was obtained in the United StatesA Price Upon Els Head. j At one period of his political exile his adventurous career came very nearly to , an abrupt end- Some years ago he was v in London with a price upon his head, when he was seized by royal emissaries and confined in the Chinese embassy ready to be sent, as secretly as possible, back to Peking. By some means or other Sir James: Cantlie, who at that time was practising medicine in Hongkong, but who happened to be staying in England, was informed that Sun Yat Sen had been taken prisoner and was shortly to be transported to .China. Sir James Cantlie made - successful representations to the Foreign Office, and at the instance .of the British authorities Sun was liberated. But. sure enough, he was ready for the trip to China, secured in a large box . specially . made for the voyage. . Cantlie's action* in upsetting the Dowager Empress', plans for the final disposal of Sun Yat Sen was to prove a costly one to British interests and prestige in China in later years, as the reader will gather a little further on in this article. Dr. Sun Yat Sen is marked by three characteristics: avarice, and revenge (which are national traits} and ambition. There is little doubt that it was the latter •which took him to Canton in 1920, out of which he > hoped to attain his other desires in due coarse. At that time Canton (which is in the province of Kwang tung) was overrun and ruled by a clique of militarists and.officials from Kwangsi, a neighbouring province. By their exploitation of the people and their systems of squeeze and overtaxation they had earned the very thorough hatred of the Cantonese. This, to Sun, appeared to be his opportunity, and by intrigue and conspiracy (in which the Chinese excel) he enlisted to his cause- the Cantonese generals with thwr troops. His scheme was to overthrow the Kwangsi usurpers, to abjure the authority of the Peking Gov(eminent, and to establish Canton as the capital, of the Republic of South China, with himself as president.. - s r Elected President of South China. His plans succeeded admirably. He inflicted decisive defeats on tho Kwangsi leaders and their troops and drove- them completely out of Kwangtung. The Cantonese acclaimed him as a popular hero and he was instiled in the palace at Canton as the president of South China with great ceremony and celebrations. The day was proclaimed a public holiday; and in Hongkong the first effect of the extraordinary change in the attitude of the Chinese in British territory was felt at this time. This coup of Sun's created an anomalous condition of affairs. From an international point of view, China is regarded as ■ one whole country ruled by one government, and the Administration at Peking is recognised by Britain and the other Powers as the Constitutional government. Bat Sun sought to sfctor all this state of things. Anticipating the difficulty of successfully carrying-on a constitution in Canton without British recognition, ' he sent a request to the British authorities to formally recognise the .Republic of South China, which was politely but firmly refused. That the subsequent revolt of Chinese labour in Hongkong was the work of Sun Yat Sen in revenge for refusing his recognition is universally believed. " In co-opera-tion with Bolshevik agents he contrived an amazingly successful scheme 'of gaining control of the Chinese Labour Guilds (or unions) in Hongkong. The labour leaders were in close contact with a mysterious organiser in Canton, and elaborate plans were made for the complete breakdown of the colony's industry. The industrial ;,,storm broke in January, 1921. Every industry in Hongkong came to a standstill, even to the rickshaw coolies.

Flood of Bolshevik _ Propaganda, '•& number of old domestic servants were loth to leave their masters and mistresses, but organised intimidation, in which threats of murder and violence were used, quickly ended any opposition. A flood of Bolshevik propaganda was loosed in Hongkong, which amply proved that Sun had other than Chinese assistance in this elaborately Organised affair. Eventually, to the disgust and anger of the foreign population, the shipowners and government gave way to the strikers, and Sun Yat Sen's revenge was accomplished, bnt not ended. For, unlike Western people, when Orientals gain an advantage they never fail to press it to the full : the result has been that crime has increased enormously, and insolence to the foreigner is shown to an extent which would have been unbelievable only two or three years ago. Chinese organised labour is now like gunpowder merelv awaiting the match. And so, unless the Home Government's colonial policy has an early and drastic change, Sun's revenge has only just begun. China has never b<en a unified country. Its great o'rne and unwieldiness and the corruptness of its officials and military leaden prohibits cohesion. The whole country is split into warring factions, and factions into village clans. The greatest enmity exists between North and South China j and when Sun had fairly settled into Mb new position he was compelled to take notice of "Wu-pie-fu, the great war Jorf to the north, who apparently b*fd not :r©Hsh Sun's activities. Conflicts with Wis's Forces. Wn had already defeated Chang-so-lin, another northern war lord, who was now standing by with his army awaiting another opportunity. Sun Yat Sen, in his conceit, imagined that if he sent an expeditionary force to the north to join Chang, together they could defeat Wu, unify China, and he could then establish himself as the President of China in Peking. Eventually the expeditionary army left Canton on its long and perilous undertaking. But there is no jealously like that of a Chinese general. Subject, therefore, to much hostility and fighting from the general)! in other provinces, and continuous attacks by bandits, Sun's undisciplined ermv sustained demoralising defeats "which to-tV it impossible to reach its objective. «In the meantime, with Canton practio*llv nridefenoV 1 . i, wily Southern general named Chan Kwing Ming, who had so

far remained neutral with his army in , his native village, took advantage of the situation by suddenly - mobilising his forces and { seizing Canton. The expeditionary army was now in a precarious position between north and south. Sun fled to Shanghai where a portion of the Chinese navy had seceded from the government and joined the .new movement in the south. On board a Chinese gunboat he accompanied the fleet to Canton, and, regardless of the people and their property, he bombarded the city unsuccessfully. A little later on, Sun Yat Sen's army, which had reorganised in the - meantime, returned to attack Chan's forces .in Canton and were successful in turning the tables completely. Chan's army was routed and ho fled to the safety of his native village. Sun then returned to Canton to resume his dictatorship. His manner of governing had a distinct flavour of the Communist methods carried out in Russia. Now that his power and position seemed assured, his need to propitiate the labour guilds was . no longer necessary. Alliance with Germany and Russia. In order to keep his array at full strength to withstand the attacks of his enemies he instituted a system of press gangs. These gangs worked the streets and countryside of Canton, ruthlessly pressing into service of either the army or forced labour battalions any unfortunate coolie or working man who came their way. A great outcry was raised by foreigners in the .British Concession in Canton against this conscription of labour. But nothing could apparently be done beyond making the fact public.

In the meantime, Sun Yat Sen carried on a system of parliament in Canton, and apparently controlled the Canton Times, which continually attacked the press and the Government in Hongkong. Charges of Bolshevism, of which he had long been suspected, were soon, however, destined to be proved. About the time of Sun's return to Canton there came to light details of a startling conspiracy on the part of this amazing man to bring about a triple Bolshevik alliance between China, Germany and Kussia. When Chan Kwing Ming made his coup in Canton, certain letters were discovered in a safe left behind by the Vice-Minister for lioreign Affairs in the harried flight of Sun Yat Sen and his officials. ; ■ i The documents gave irrefutable evidence that Sun had been conspiring to bring about the alliance • above referred to. The letters, one of which was in Sun's own hamiwriting, were translated, revealing that the leading spirits in~the plot were Dr. Sun Yat Sen and Admiral Von Hintze, the then German Minister to Moscow, and who was formerly German ambassador to Peking. It was shown that Sun, through a Chinese agent in Berlin named Chu : Wo-Chong, had co-operated with Admiral Von Hintze, who was-plan-ning to be sent secretly to China by the German Government.

The letters showed that it was arranged for Admiral Von Hintze (travelling under an assumed name) to be met on arrival at Hongkong by Tse.Ah Pak (a notorious Canton socialist). The latter was to escort Admiral Von Hintze to Sun'Yat Sen's headquarters in Canton. y The correspondence also revealed that a, bureau was to be established with Von Hintze as its head, acting .in the capacity/of adviser to Sun Yat Sen. This bureau was to be the medium for the ?? disposition of Bolshevik agents in China. The failure to destroy the incriminating documents, as instructed by Sun, "allowed the scheme to leak out, and its shows very clearly the mischievous .-' propensities of this notorious character. ; >

Extraordinary Correspondence. The documents, which were photographed and published in their original appearance in Hongkong, are shown below as they were translated into English:— Kweilin, March 8, 1922. My dear Two Elder Brothers, Chung Oi and Ah Pak,— I have just received from Chu Wo Chops a letter -which informs me that our affairs are progressing. You will understand in reading the enclosed correspondence why the help of both of you is necessary to me. (Burn this letter after having read it). I.Brother Chung Oi. as requested by Chu, must effect the remittance on Peking and Berlin, amounting to a total of 4200 dollars. That part of thic sum to be sent to Berlin must be converted into American gold dollars or English pounds; you should not buy marks, because it is to be feared that the mark will go down and not go up any more, while the gold dollar and the English pound showing a rising tendency. I am enclosing herewith an order for payment, and this will be paid to you from my personal account by my cashier. 2.Brother Ah Pftk must wait in Canton for the arrival of Hintze in Hongkong, where' he will go to meet him and bring him to headquarter*. This matter should be kept absolutely secret, and you will, so soon as you receive this letter instruct the telegranh office to examine with the greatest care all telegrams sent from Europe or from porta of call on the navigation lines between Europe and Asia. If a telegram is received •which contains the letter " H," Ah Pak shou'd immediately proceed to Hongkong on the appointed date and wait for the arrival of the steamer. The more the Hintze affair is kept secret the better it will Be. Members of the- government should not be informed of it unless absolutely impossible to do otherwise. With my compliments. (Signed) Sun Yat Sen. A report from the Chinese emissary to Berlin read as follows: — Berlin, January I, 1922. To the President.— Here our plans are just beginning to take shape. I would require six months more to obtain » result. 'There cannot, therefore, be any question of my coming back to China now ond letting everything drift. Please send me some more funds and givo Me your instructions. Hoping you are well,— (Signed) Chu Wo-Chong,

" -V Von Hintze's Bole. ;, 'Sun Tat Sen also enclosed in his letter to the Vice-Minister of Finance a further communication from Chu Wo-Chong .in "the nature of a decoded telegraph ."..written on the official notepaper of the Expeditionary Headquarters of the Generalissimo of the Army and Navy (Sun Yat Sen). It read ,as follows : . Hintze, formerly Minister to Germany in China, knows thoroughly, the situation of China. Having been during eight years on a special-military mission in Russia, ho has acquired many good relations in that country. He speaks English, Russian and French I pcfcfactly. Furthermore, he has the . new ; Wens, arid is active and tactful. His plans are in harmony with current democratic I opinion. He i« a man such as Hhere arc ! very few in Germany. , ■' i Before my arrival in Berlin, Hiintzo had already advocated the conclusion of an alliance between China, Germany and Russia, a plan which is conformable to your secret purpose. Since I have been negotiating with him he has decided to put aside I all other political questions in order to de- ! voto hie whole attention to this matter, it ha& lWen decided to organise in concert, with as a Bureau, with the object of bringing about this alliance. When, in two months, all the necessary steps have been taken, he will ask the German Prim© Minister for authorisation to go to China. In my humble opinion. Hintse should be appointed Director of the projected Bureau. The several heads of the departments should. then be appointed. As to the -other officials, the material, and the decisions to be taken, these matters should be decided by a chief secretary. The Director would discharge the functions of advisor to you. The heads of departments should then decide which agents should come to China immediately, which agents should come afterwards, which materials should be immediately necessary, and which materials should be imported later on, which steps should be taken without delay and which measures could be decided upon afterwards . and executed later on. On all these points the final decision would be taken by you in

agreement with the Director. Communications thus being established between East and West and the principles of action well established, the scheme would progress rapidly. But on account of his great position. Hintze would have to take an assumed name and his participation in this scheme would thus be unknown to the German public. In due time I will cable you- the name of the steamer by which he will leave, and <! request yoa to send a launch to meet him on his arrival in Hongkong, in order _to t»V°. him secretly to . Canton. The question of knowing if, after his arrival in China, ha.will be definitely agreed to and engaged by you is not a matter to be considered by me. In my cable the letter "H" will replace Hintze's name. Kindly praying (or your decisions, (Signed) Chong. What the result of the fruition of such an extraordinary plot would have been is hard to conjecture. But it is. certain that had it not been for the providential intervention of Chan Kwing Ming with Sun's resultant flight, the conspiracy would never have been discovered. Even its partial success would, to say the least, have had an extremely adverse effect on European people and trade in China.