A FEW days ago I had a conversation with a Chinese gentleman who held high office under the Manchu and Yuan Governments on the present outburst of ill-feeling against the British, when he stated quite frankly, and without any show of feeling, what he believed to be at the root of the trouble. I may say that he is not anti-British—his sons having studied in English Public Schools and Universities—and that he deplores the estrangement that has taken place between the two races. The gist of his remarks were as follows:—“You are not to think for a moment that the shooting of a few students and loafers in Shanghai led to the present trouble. You know the Chinese do not value human life so highly as in Europe, so that point may be dismissed without further comment. But for years the Chinese in Shanghai have suffered from the insolence of foreigners to such an extent that the iron has entered into their soul, and they have determined to stand it no longer.
“Most foreigners look upon the Chinese as an inferior race, and treat Chinese ladies on the streets and in tramcars in a way they would not dare treat women in their own country. Our women have reported to their fathers and brothers the rudeness to which they have been subjected, with the result that bitter feelings were generated and, when the shooting took place, the men folk found a pretext to vent their feelings on the British—although why against them alone, I don’t know.
“Again, our young men who go to Britain and the United States, return home with very different tales of the reception they met with in these countries. My own sons were well received in England and Scotland because they were fortunate in having introductions to good families—on that score I have nothing to complain about. But all students have not had the same pleasant experiences. They report that they were looked upon as ‘yellow men,’ saw little or nothing of family life, and came back convinced in their minds that the British are haughty and unsociable.
” Contrast this with the experiences of students who have been to America. There they were uniformly well treated; were invited to Christian homes and social functions, and returned to their own country filled with admiration for the American people. These reports have spread throughout China, and if Americans are well received in our midst the reason is not far to seek. We appreciate kindness without ostentation, and will repay it in our own way.
” As to the widespread bitter feeling against the British, it cannot be denied that the Bolsheviks have encouraged and subsidised quite a number of students and others to bring this about; but the Shanghai Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which is composed of wealthy men—many of whom were trained abroad—had no need of Russian money; and it was from that respectable body (who stood to lose heavily from a boycott of British goods) that telegrams went forth to all parts of China, warning the people not to purchase goods made in your country. You will agree that something serious must be wrong when an influential body like that takes such a serious step.
” My opinion is that foreigners of all nations, if we except the Germans, do not have anything like sufficient intercourse with our people. Your merchants talk over matters with their compradores, do business, and then go to their clubs; and there the matter ends. Few of them have taken the trouble to learn our language or study our customs, with the result that misunderstandings arise, and will continue to arise, until they have the courtesy to learn the language of the country to which they have come to do business. Your Mixed Courts, Favoured Treaties, and other anachronisms are humiliating to the Chinese, and until these are abolished the friction will increase and not diminish.”
All this was said in the most friendly spirit. There was no trace of hysteria, so common among Chinese super-patriots, and as my friend’s points were clear and logical, I had no difficulty in replying to them.
In the first place, I pointed out that all foreigners residing in the Shanghai International Settlement were not British subjects, and that I failed to see why the Chinese gentry should saddle my countrymen with the sins and shortcomings of a cosmopolitan community. I also drew attention to the fact that the British merchants of Shanghai were of the same class as the British merchants of Tientsin, and that, so far as I knew, no railing accusation of discourtesy had ever been brought against them by the Chinese community. On the other hand, it might be said that British merchants at all the ports—many of whom were public school and University men—were men of good breeding, and were quite incapable of acting as he had stated towards women, no matter to what class they belonged. Further, this charge was open to serious counter-charges which could not be gainsaid: such as maltreating foreign ladies in the interior, kidnapping innocent women and children, and subjecting them to indignities which were unknown in civilised countries.
In the second place, I was of opinion that the statements made regarding the poor reception given to Chinese students in England had been exaggerated, and that my opinion was based on the conversations I had with the Chinese who had studied in English and Scottish Universities, and who looked back with pleasure to their experiences when there. I admitted that Chinese were suspect in some of our great centres, and that this had been brought about by the conduct of his countrymen in Limehouse, and other parts of London, who were engaged in the opium and morphine traffic, and whose presence in our country was a perpetual menace to the British people. I emphasised the point that this unfortunate feeling might be lived down, if the Chinese Embassy in London would see to it that Chinese of the baser sort were expelled from Britain, and that all Chinese entering our ports would be of such a class as to reflect credit on their country.
As to the mysterious action of the Shanghai Chinese Chamber of Commerce, that also might be explained. The representative men in that Chamber stood in awe of students and did as they were told. They knew that if they disobeyed they were liable to bodily injury, and possibly death; and if they were above being bribed by the Bolsheviks, they were not above being intimidated by those who were in the pay, and under the instructions, of that sinister body. It is not to the credit of the Shanghai Chinese Chamber of Commerce that they acted in a manner which merely manifested their pusillanimous spirit.
It would be out of place to go into all the points raised in a conversation which lasted for an hour and a-half; but perhaps enough has been written to show the temper of the Chinese at this juncture, and the need for men who have some glimmering of their mentality, to handle questions of grave import. I may say that my friend and I parted in the spirit of amity, after he had expressed the opinion that his points had been well taken. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend!”
This short article is from the pen of Mr Stewart Annand, and is taken from the January issue of the “Quarterly Record” of the National Bible Society of Scotland. Owing to the great upheaval in China at the present time this article will be of interest to our readers. Before reprinting it we submitted it to Mr A. Ross, Manchester, whose knowledge of Chinese matters alike from the religious and business point of view is most intimate. Mr Ross’s verdict is:—“I consider Mr Annand’s replies to the Chinaman admirably to the point in every case.”—Editor.