PIRATES JOIN ARMY.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20361, 19 July 1934, Page 1

PIRATES JOIN ARMY.

Chinese Desperadoes Release All Captives.

SHANGHAI, July 18. With the sixty pirates responsible for the kidnapping from the steamer Shuntien shortly to be enlisted as members of the Chinese armies pf General Han Fu-chu, and all the captives, including five British subjects and one Japanese, now released, finis has apparentlv been written to one of the most daring piracies on the coast. A Pekin message states that the remaining eleven Chinese captives found their way to safety yesterda}', reporting that the pirates were now' prepared to take advantage of the promise of General Ilan Fu-chu to incorporate them in his army providing the victims were released unharmed. When the pirates were last heard of they were being pursued by British destroyers and aircraft, and by ground forces. They had released their British and Japanese prisoners, but still held nineteen Chinese for ransom.