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The Kuomintang Regime and the Shanghai Capitalists, 1927–29

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

Extract

“The reorganized Kuomintang [of 1927] established itself on a new social base – the Shanghai bankers, the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie of the cities, and the landlords in the country.” Such was the view of the allegedly leftist editor Frederick Spencer writing in 1934, and his opinion has been shared by writers of a variety of political persuasions and backgrounds. T. A. Bisson, a research associate for the Foreign Policy Association, observed in 1933 that the Nanking regime's “most powerful supporters have been the Shanghai bankers.” Robert W. Barnett, writing in 1941 for the Institute of Pacific Relations, argued that after 1927 “a progressive but anti-revolutionary Chinese bourgeoisie provided the ruling Kuomintang with its principal source of inspiration and support.” Ch'en Po-ta wrote that the Nanking regime was “a counter-revolutionary military dictatorship of the big compradors and big landlords. It was formed with the Shanghai, or the ‘Kiangsu-Chekiang,’ gangster ring of comprador–financiers at its core.”

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1979

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References

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40. North-China Daily News, 18 May 1927, p. 8; USDS 893/9199, Gauss to MacMurray, 5 June 1927.

41. China Weekly Review, 25 June 1927, p. 77.

42. USDS 893/9395, American Consul at Shanghai Cunningham to MacMurray, 30 July 1927; USDS 893/9199, Gauss to MacMurray, 5 June 1927.

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60. Shang-hai ch'ien-chuang, p. 207.

61. USDS 893/9660, Cunningham to Mayer, 12 November 1927.

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75. Hsien-tai p'ing-lun (The Contemporary Review), 11 August 1928, p. 182.

76. USDS 893/10213, Cunningham to MacMurray, 11 August 1928, Ti-wu-tz'u chung-yang chih-hsing wei-yüan-hui ch'üan-t'i ta-hui-chi” (“A record of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Executive Committee”), Kuo-wen chou-pao (Kuo-wen Weekly), Vol. 5, 26 08 1928Google Scholar.

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79. China Critic, 23 August 1928, p. 244.

80. China Critic, 16 August 1928, p. 230.

81. USDS 893/10213, Cunningham to MacMurray, 11 August 1928.

82. Ibid.

83. Shen-pao, 18 October 1928, pp. 13–14; 27 October 1928, pp. 13–14.

84. China Critic, 22 November 1928, p. 518.

85. North China Herald, 28 July 1928, p. 139.

86. Yao-ch'ün, , “Min-sheng chu-i yü ts'ai-cheng hui-i” (“The principle of people's livelihood and the financial conference”), Hsien-tao yüeh-k'an, Vol. 1, 15 08 1928Google Scholar.

87. China Year Book, 1929–30, pp. 1204–1205.

88. China Weekly Review, 30 March 1929, p. 218; 4 May 1929, p. 404; Garrett, Shirley, “The chambers of commerce,” pp. 227–28Google Scholar.

89. USDS 893/5927, Cunningham to MacMurray, 10 April 1929.

90. Ch'en-pao, 1 March 1928, in Hatano, , Gendai, 03 1928, pp. 9395Google Scholar.

91. Shen-pao, 24 April 1929, p. 13; 25 April 1929, p. 13; North China Herald, 27 April 1929, p. 144; Hu tsung-shang-hui feng-ch'ao” (“Upheaval at the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce”), Kuo-wen chou-pao, Vol. 6, 28 04 1929Google Scholar. Police of the International Settlement could not protect the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce Building because it was located in the compound of the Temple of Heaven. The compound predated the existence of the International Settlement and was exempt from foreign control. Settlement police were not authorized to enter the compound.

92. China Weekly Review, 4 May 1929, p. 404; North China Herald, 4 May 1929, p. 190.

93. Ibid.

94. Shen-pao, 11 May 1929, p. 13; China Critic, 9 May 1929, p. 375; ”Hu tsung-shang-hui,” n. pag.; Shang-hai t'e-pieh-shih shang-jen t'uan-t'i cheng-li wei-yüan-hui ch'eng-li-chi” (“A record of the creation of the Shanghai municipality merchants' organizations reorganization committee”), Shang-yeh yüeh-pao, Vol. 9, No. 5 (05 1929), p. 1Google Scholar.

95. Shen-pao, 5 May 1929, p. 13; Shang-hai shih-pao, 19 March 1929, in Hatano, , Gendai, 03 1929, pp. 329–31Google Scholar; “Shang-hai t'e-pieh-shih,” pp. 1–2.

96. USDS 893/6008, Cunningham to MacMurray, 7 June 1929; “Shang-hai t'e-pieh,” p. 5.

97. North China Herald, 18 May 1929, p. 270; “Shang-hai t'e-pieh,” pp. 2–3.

98. Shen-pao, 21 June 1930, p. 13; 22 June 1930, pp. 13–14.

99. Garrett, Shirley, “Chambers of commerce,” pp. 227–28Google Scholar

100. USDS 893/6317, Cunningham to MacMurray, 14 December 1929.

101. Feetham, , Report, Vol. II. pt. 4, p. 5Google Scholar.

102. A major grievance of the Shanghai capitalists as a group was their demand for compensation for property confiscated or destroyed during the Northern Expedition. A resolution calling for such compensation was adopted by the National Economic Conference but little aid was forthcoming. Yü Hsia-ch'ing, however, was able to obtain a Y3·5 million recovery loan from Nanking for his San Peh (San Pei) Steamship Company. This type of assistance was available in a few instances to individuals who, like Yü, enjoyed close personal ties to Kuomintang leaders. The much larger China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, by contrast, suffered much greater losses during the Northern Expedition but received little aid. The company went bankrupt and was ultimately confiscated and reorganized by the Nanking Government. See China Year Book, 1929–1930, pp. 790-–91; China Weekly Review, 20 July 1929, p. 354; Shu, Huai, Chung-kuo ching-chi nei-mu (China's Economic Inside Story) (Hong Kong: Hsin-min-chu ch'u-pan-she, 1948), p. 37Google Scholar.