893.00/15112
The Chargé in China (Atcheson) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 13.]
Sir: Reference is made to the Embassy’s despatch No. 1310 of June 30, 1943 on the subject of conditions in Kansu Province.
There is now enclosed a copy of a despatch No. 9, July 18, 1943, with enclosure,34 from the Second Secretary at Lanchow, in regard to political unrest in Kansu, which may be summarized as follows:
An agrarian uprising which occurred in parts of Kansu last spring, in which perhaps 50,000 or more armed peasants participated, has now subsided assumably because of their present [pre]occupation with the cultivation and harvesting of crops. Among the causes of the unrest were (1) dislike for the provincial regime (the chairman is considered unduly harsh and his subordinates, principally from other provinces, are considered “foreign”); (2) resentment of conscription [Page 317] and heavy grain collections; (3) apparent attempts by the Provincial Government to suppress the opium trade, which is largely in the hands of secret societies which are linked to the powerful landlord-gentry class; and (4) presence within the province of armed, disbanded former soldiers.
According to Mr. Service, it appears likely that, with the completion of agricultural activities in the Autumn and recommencement of collection of taxes in kind, disturbances will recur. To meet this situation and to guard against a possible attempt by the Communists to capitalize on the situation by moving into Central Kansu, the troops in the province have been reinforced and defense works are being constructed.
Respectfully yours,
- Neither printed.↩