793.00/229
The Consul General at Shanghai (Cunningham) to the Minister in China (MacMurray)3
Sir: As an appropriate supplement to the chapter in this office’s political report for September, 1929, No. 6188, dated October 11, 1929,4 under the heading “Anti-Foreignism,” on page 9 of the report, I have the honor to quote the following from a recent statement made by a well informed foreign authority concerning crimes against foreigners during recent months:
“Apropos of the National Government’s assurance of protection for foreigners in the event of extraterritoriality being abolished events in China wherein the lives of foreign subjects are ruthlessly taken are undoubtedly on the increase and so far no remedy has been found by Nanking to counteract the activities of organized gangs of bandits who are responsible for the outrages and who appear to have established themselves in every part of the country in spite of the presence of a large standing army supposedly united under the direct control of the Chief Executive of the country. While it is impossible to give details of every outrage coming under this category the following details go to show that the methods adopted for the safety of foreigners in the interior is anything but satisfactory.
“Messrs. Burton and Godfrey, British subjects who were captured by bandits in the vicinity of the Sungari River in August, were released in the beginning of September after being in the hands of bandits for 19 days.
“Bishop Trude Jans and Fathers Bruno and Rupertus members of a French Mission were murdered by bandits at Liaoting in Hupeh early in September and in spite of a strong protest by the French Legation to the Chinese Government the culprits are still at large.
“Five officers, including the captain, of the Norwegian steamer ‘Botnia’ were captured when the vessel was stranded and was pirated at Haichow on September 12. The sum of $500,000 was demanded for their release. Three of the officers succeeded in effecting their release the same evening while the other two were subject to the most barbarous treatment, which nearly resulted in their death, before they were liberated by their captors owing to the latter being harassed by Government troops.
“The Rev. G. Cecil Smith of the China Inland Mission was also captured by bandits at Yungning in Southwest Kueichow on September 10 but was released some six days later through the efforts of Government troops.
“In addition to the above eight foreigners have been murdered in the interior since April 1929 while a goodly number of foreign missionaries have been either abducted or been the victims of robbery with violence.”
I have [etc.]