chapter 3 The Patriotic 1930s: Chinese Overseas Bourgeoisie in Nationalist Wings No Chinese person is unpatriotic . but my humble opinion is that one single cable would not have any practical purpose . I also consulted with the Hong Kong authority, which responded that Hong Kong is a neu- tral place and it is not appropriate for us to send such a cable. —Li Yau Tsun 李右泉1 ∵ In May 1928, when news of the Jinan Incident was confirmed, in Hong Kong, the CGCCHK received many letters demanding it to send a cable to show sup- port for the Chinese Nationalist Government in Nanjing (Nanjing govern- ment). Most of these letters were addressed anonymously with “signatures” such as “a full-hearted Chinese man,” “one of the Chinese people,” “self-help associations of Chinese civilians,” and “national salvation group of Hong Kong people from all walks of life.”2 The association’s initial response was to refuse these requests, however, for the reason excerpted above. Around the same time, in Singapore, the Chinese General Consulate issued the following statement: “All overseas Chinese should keep calm and be patient. The Chinese government will work for justice. As for economic boy- cotts, we believe that these are spontaneous, patriotic and peaceful activities. People undertake them out of conscience. But except for economic boycotts, please do not overreact and do not violate law and order.”3 Published in major newspapers in Singapore, the statement confirmed the anti-Japanese feelings of the Chinese overseas in the city, though it also warned against violence. The position ushered in a variety of nationalist activities, including fund-raising campaigns led by the bourgeoisie. Anti-Japanese boycotts broke out, which resulted in a heavy slump in Japanese exports to Singapore in particular and British Malaya in general. From that juncture until the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, in July 1937, the China-born Hokkien rubber tycoon Tan Kah Kee rose 1 HKMS 163-1-4: Minutes of Meetings of the CGCCHK, May 16, 1928. 2 HKMS 163-1-4: Minutes of Meetings of the CGCCHK, May 16, 1928. 3 NYSP: May 9, 1928. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���4 | doi ��.��63/9789004�8�097_��5 Chinese Overseas Bourgeoisie in Nationalist Wings 131 to be the paramount Chinese nationalist leader, endorsed by both the British and the GMD.4 Given the significant donations of Chinese overseas to the GMD’s war expenses, especially in the earlier years of the Pacific War,5 most studies focus on the incorporation of Chinese overseas bourgeoisie in Chiang’s state.6 I how- ever emphasize the difference between the quick response of the Chinese bourgeoisie in Singapore vis-à-vis the deliberate hesitation of those in Hong Kong, as mentioned above, in order to reflect the different positions taken by the two groups concerning the rising power of Chiang Kai-shek in the GMD after the Northern Expedition. Between 1926 and 1927, backed by the support of the Whampoa Military Academy and the reorganization of southern and southwestern military groups, Chiang purged the leftists in the south and con- quered the warlords in the north. In November 1926, the GMD moved the capi- tal in Wuhan, In April 1927, Chiang Kai-shek, with the support of Hu Hanmin, established the Nanjing government. Beneath the formal allegiance to the new Nanjing government of Chinese overseas, mobilization of the parochial level of state-builders, especially those based in Guangdong divided the Chinese overseas by their different connections with the different factions in GMD. Between April and August 1927, Wang Jingwei denied the legitimacy of the Nanjing government and confronted Chiang over the latter’s purge of the left- ists. Although the conflict, known as the split between Wuhan and Nanjing, was soon resolved after Wang also turned against the communists, the con- frontation among Wang, Hu, and Chiang continued throughout the 1930s.7 Chinese overseas bourgeoisie, however, found it hard to remain bystanders of 4 Akashi, “The Nanyang Chinese Anti-Japanese and Boycott Movement, 1908–28: A Study of Nanyang Chinese Nationalism,” Journal of South Seas Society (Vol. XXIII, 1968): 69–97; Yong, Tan Kah Kee, Ch. 6; Yen Ch’ing-hwang, “The Response of the Overseas Chinese in Singapore and Malaya to the Tsinan Incident, 1928,” in Ng Lun Ngai-ha and Chang Chak Yan eds. Overseas Chinese in Asia between the Two World Wars (Hong Kong: Overseas Chinese Archives and Centre for Contemporary Asian Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989), 263–282. 5 Lee Ying-hui, Kang Ri yu fu Ri: huaqiao, Guominzhengfu, Wang zhengquan, 138, fn. 109. 6 Akashi, The Nanyang Chinese National Salvation Movement, 1937–1941; S. Leong, “The Malayan Overseas Chinese and the Sino-Japanese War, 1937–1941.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vol. 10, no. 2 (Sept. 1979): 293–320; Yong and McKenna, The Kuomintang Movement in British Malaya, 1912–1949; Lee Ying-hui, Huaqiao zhengce yu haiwai minzushuyi, 1912–1949. 7 Li Zongren and Tang Degang 李宗仁、唐德剛, Li Zongren huiyi lu xia 李宗仁回憶錄下 [Memoir of Li Zongren, volume 2] (Taipei: Yuanliu chubanshe, 2010), 487–491; 565–570; Guangdong dang an guan 廣東檔案館, Chen Jitang yanjiu shiliao 陳濟棠研究史料 .