May Thirtieth Movement

A propaganda poster depicting a foreign imperialist and a local warlord torturing a Chinese patriot in the aftermath of the May 30th Movement in China.

The May Thirtieth Movement (pinyin: wǔsà yùndòng May 30, 1925) was a labor and anti-imperalist movement during the middle-period of the Republic of China era. It began when Shanghai Municipal Police officers opened fire on Chinese protesters in Shanghai's International Settlement. The shootings sparked international censure and nation-wide anti-foreign demonstrations.

Roots of the Incident

The Second Zhili–Fengtian War of 1924 was the most destructive turmoil China experienced since 1911.^[1] The Zhili-controlled government, backed by Anglo-American business interests, was ousted by pro-Japanese warlord Zhang Zuolin, who installed a government led by Duan Qirui in November 1924. The war left the central government bankrupt and Duan exercised little authority outside Beijing. Authority in the North was divided between Zhang and Feng Yuxiang, a Soviet-backed warlord. Public support for the northern militarists hit an all-time low, with southerners openly disparaging the northern leaders as junfa (warlords).^[1] With his monarchist leanings and base in conservative Manchuria, Zhang represented the far right in Chinese politics and could claim few supporters in southern China. Meanwhile, the KMT (Nationalist) and Communist parties, allied as the First United Front, ran a diplomatically unrecognized Soviet-backed administration in the southern province of Guangdong.

Alongside the public grief at the recent death of China's Republican hero Sun Yat-sen (12 March), the KMT had energized pro-Chinese, anti-imperial and anti-western organizations within major Chinese cities.^[2] Chinese Communist Party groups had also been given greater ability to foment dissent in Shanghai, where the native Chinese workforce was beset by problems involving lack of legal factory inspection or recourse for worker grievances.^[3]

In the early months of 1925 conflicts and strikes between the Chinese workforce and the Japanese run No. 8 Mill intensified. Then, on May 15, a Japanese foreman shot a protester named Ku Chen-Hung dead.^[4] Over the following weeks, Ku Chen-Hung became viewed as a martyr by Chinese unions and student groups, resulting in numerous protests and strikes against foreign-run industries, particularly Japanese.

The Nanjing Road Incident

On the morning of May 30, 1925 Shanghai Municipal Police arrested fifteen ringleaders of a student protest being held on and around Nanking Road, in the foreign-controlled International Settlement. These protesters were held in Louza (Laozha) police station, which by 2:45pm was facing a 'huge crowd' of Chinese that had amassed outside. These demonstrators demanded the arrested ringleaders be returned to them, in a number of cases, entering the police station and (according to SMP officers) attempting to either block the foyer or gain access to the cells.

A picket of police (there was only a skeleton staff of approximately a dozen officers overall) was set up to prevent demonstrators entering the station. In the minutes before the shooting, police and witnesses reported cries of 'kill the foreigners' were raised and the demonstration turned violent.^[5][6] Inspector Edward Everson, station commander and the highest ranking officer on the scene (as the police commissioner K.J. McEuen had not let the demonstration interfere with his attendance at the Spring races), eventually shouted: 'Stop! If you do not stop I will shoot!' in Chinese. A few seconds later, at 3.37pm, and as the struggle intensified, he fired into the crowd with his revolver.

The Sikh and Chinese police then opened fire. At least four demonstrators were killed at the scene, with another five dying later of their injuries. At least 14 injured were hospitalized, with many others wounded.^[7][8]

Aftermath

The incident shocked and galvanized the nation. Over the next few days, Shanghai businesses and workers went on strike, with the foreign concessions entering states of emergency. The strikes, coupled with violent demonstrations and riots, spread across China and brought the economy to a standstill^[9]. In Hong Kong these strikes were known as the Canton-Hong Kong strike,^[7] and in China proper were known as the May Thirtieth Strikes.

By November, with Chiang Kai-shek having finally seized power after Sun Yat-sen's death and Chinese businesses wishing to return to business, the strikes and protests began to be phased out.^[5] In Hong Kong, they would not end until 1926. In response to the shooting, Everson and McEuen were eventually forced to resign, and both left China. The nationalist upsurge associated with the movement and with the Northern Expedition of the Kuomintang eventually saw reforms in the governance of the International Settlement and the Shanghai Municipal Council.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Waldron, Arthur, (1991) From War to Nationalism: China's Turning Point, p. 5.
2. ^ Ku, Hung-Ting [1979] (1979). Urban Mass Movement: The May Thirtieth Movement in Shanghai. Modern Asian Studies, Vol.13, No.2. pp.197-216
3. ^ B.L [1936] (Jul 15, 1936). Shanghai at Last Gets Factory Inspection Law. Far Eastern Survey, Vol.5, No.15.
4. ^ Ku, Hung-Ting [1979] (1979). Urban Mass Movement: The May Thirtieth Movement in Shanghai. Modern Asian Studies, Vol.13, No.2. pp.201
5. ^ ^{a b} Potter, Edna Lee (1940). News Is My Job: A Correspondent in War-Torn China. Macmillan publishing. p. 198
6. ^ Bickers, Robert [2003] (2003). Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai. Allen Lane publishing. ISBN 0713996846. p. 165
7. ^ ^{a b} Carroll, John Mark Carroll. [2007] (2007). A concise history of Hong Kong. Rowman & Littlefield publishing. ISBN 0742534227, 9780742534223. p. 100
8. ^ Jens Bangsbo, Thomas Reilly, Mike Hughes. [1995] (1995). Science and Football III: Proceedings of the Third World Congress of Science and Football, Cardiff, Wales, 9-13 April, 1995. Taylor & Francis publishing. ISBN 0419221603, 9780419221609. p 42-43.
9. ^ Horesh, Niv. 'Shanghai's Bund and Beyond', 2009 (Yale University Press)

See also

• Warlord era
• History of the Republic of China
• Military of the Republic of China
• May Fourth Movement