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The French Connection That Failed: France and Sun Yat-Sen, 1900–1908

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2011

J. Kim Munholland
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Abstract

Between 1900 and 1908 the Chinese revolutionary leader, Sun Yat-sen, tried to obtain assistance from the French government for his movement to overturn the Manchu dynasty, and at one point he contacted a French army officer who gave the impression that such aid might be forthcoming. This connection between Sun Yat-sen and France, revealed in Sun's memoirs, has intrigued and puzzled historians who have been uncertain as to the policy behind this curious contact. However, French archival records reveal that the promise of assistance to Sun was ephemeral as the French government decided that its political and economic interests in Asia dictated against any support for an Asian revolutionary leader. Under pressure from the Imperial Chinese government French officials banished Sun Yat-sen from Indochina in 1908, thereby demonstrating a basic hostility toward revolutionary movements in Asia.

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Articles
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The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , November 1972 , pp. 77 - 95
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 1972

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References

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5 Foreign Minister to Colonial Minister, 28 July 1900, and Col. Min. to Gov.-Gen. 9 Aug. 1900, Ibid

6 Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min. 7 Oct. and 27 Oct. 1900, Ibid

7 For. Min. to Col. Min., 4 June 1901 and Col. Min. to Gov.-Gen., 20 June 1901, Ibid Delcassé's firmness was part of a struggle that he was having at the time with Doumer. Doumer wanted a military intervention and occupation of Yunnan as an adjunct to the economic penetration of this Chinese province begun with his Yunnan railway project. Delcassé promptly vetoed the idea which caused a deep animosity between the two. On this conflict, see Andrew, Christopher, Theophile Delcassè and the Making of the Entente-Cordiale (New York and London, 1968), pp. 256–7Google Scholar, and Bruguière, , “Le Chemin de Fer du Yunnan,” pp. 256–9, 273–4.Google Scholar

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16 War Min. to Commanding General, Occupation Corps in China, 17 July 1905, Ibid

17 Report to War Min. from Director of Colonial Troops, 20 May 1905 Ibid Evidence of a complete lack of understanding of the true nature of Boucabeille's mission may be found in the notification given to the government of Indochina by the war ministry which indicated that Boucabeille was to “centralize” all intelligence services in China. No mention was made of possible contacts with Chinese revolutionaries in this message nor in the confidential memorandum on the Boucabeille mission prepared for the governor-general by his secretary; AOM(Aix) carton 15.825.

18 War Min. to Head of Special Intelligence Mission, Feb. 1906, Ibid

19 For. Min. and Pres. of Council to War Min., 17 Feb. 1906, Ibid

20 The inscription is dated 11 Feb. 1905 and is included in MAE, Chine n.s. 8.

21 Schiffrin, , Sun Yat-sen, pp. 352–3.Google Scholar

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24 Head Sp. Intelligence Serv. to War Min. (2eme Bureau), 9 Nov. 1905, EMA, Chine, Service des Renseignements (SR), cart. 7N1676.

25 This is confirmed by Boucabeille's subsequent report in which Sun is praised as “a most intelligent and refined man.” Head Sp. Intell. Serv. to War Min. (2eme Bureau), 5 Jan. 1906, Ibid

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30 Head Sp. Intell. Serv. to War Min. (2eme Bureau), 4 Feb. and 4 Mar 1906, EMA, Chine, SR, cart. 7N1676.

31 Same to Same, 10 May 1906, Ibid

32 Mil. Att. Peking, private letter to Head 2eme, Bureau, 31 May 1906, EMA, Att. Mil. Chine 1900–1910, cart. 7N1668.

33 Head Sp. Intell. Serv. to War Min. (2eme Bureau), 5 Nov. 1905 EMA, Chine, SR, cart. 7N1676.

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37 The French consul in Canton had warned of Chinese suspicions in September 1905. Fr. Consul, Canton to For. Min., 23 Sept. 1905, MAE, Chine, n.s. 8.

38 Mil. Att. Peking private letter to Head, 2eme Bureau, 16 Mar. 1906, EMA, Att. Mil., Chine, 1900–1910, cart. 7N1668.

39 Memorandum: “Objective of Captain Ozil's Mission”, 9 June 1906, EMA, Chine, S.R., cart. 7N1676.

40 Yat-sen, Sun, Souvenirs, p. 177Google Scholar, and Dutt, Vidya Prakash, “The First Week of Revolution: The Wuchang Uprising” in Mary C. Wright (ed.), China in Revolution, pp. 385–6.Google Scholar

41 Fr. Consul Hankow to Fr. Min. Peking, 25 Feb. 1907, MAE, Chine, n.s. 199.

42 Fr. Min. Peking to For. Min. 10 June 1906, MAE, Chine, n.s. 9; Fr. Mil. Att. Peking private letter to Head, 2eme Bureau, 31 May 1906, EMA, Att. Mil., Chine, 1900–1910, cart. 7N1668.

43 Head Sp. Intell. Serv. to War Min. (2eme Bureau), 30 July 1906, EMA, Chine S.R., cart. 7N1676.

44 Fr. Min. Peking to For. Min., 12 Oct. 1906, EMA, Att. Mil. Chine, 1883–1919, cart. 7N1674.

45 For. Min. to War Min., 15 Oct. 1906, EMA, Att. Mil. Chine, cart. 7N1675.

46 Fr. Consul, Hankow to Fr. Min., Peking, 25 Feb. 1907, MAE, Chine, n.s. 199.

47 For. Min. to Fr. Min., Peking, 24 Nov. 1906, MAE, Chine, n.s. 9.

48 Fr. Consul, Canton to Gov.-Gen., 15 June 1906, Ibid

49 Fr. Consul, Shanghai to For. Min., 22 April and 4 Oct. 1906, Ibid

50 Report: “Military Situation in Indochina”, 20 June 1906, EMA, Att. Mil., Chine, 1883–1919, cart. 7N1674.

51 Jansen, , Japanese and Sun Yat-sen, pp. 122–3.Google Scholar

52 French military intelligence estimated 800 active members of the revolutionary party in Hanoi; “Memorandum on Kwangsi (Revolutionary Party)”, EMA, Chine, Intell. Serv., cart. 7N1677.

53 Fr. Consul, Shanghai to For. Min., 4 Oct. 1906, AOM Indochine B11(36); Fr. Min., Peking to For. Min., 15 Oct. 1906, Ibid; Head, Sp. Intell. Serv. to War Min. (2eme Bureau), 2 Sept. 1906, EMA, Chine, S.R., cart. 7N1676.

54 For. Min. to Fr. Min., Peking, 27 Oct. 1906, MAE, Chine, n.s. 9.

55 Fr. Consul, Shanghai to For. Min., 28 Feb. 1907, MAE, Chine, n.s. 10; Bapst reported that the Chinese government had been greatly alarmed by the seriousness of the disturbances; Fr. Min., Peking to For. Min. 24 Jan. 1907, Ibid

56 Fr. Resident, Tonkin to Gov.-Gen. 22 Jan. 1908, AOM Indochine, B11(37), and Same to Same, 7 Feb. 1908, AOM(Aix) cart. 18.248(1).

57 Hsüeh, Chün-tu, Huang Hsing and the Chinese Revolution (Stanford, 1961), p. 65.Google Scholar

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59 Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 17 June 1907, Ibid and MAE, Chine, n.s. 199; it is interesting to note, in view of Beau's claim not to be able to find Sun, that Jean Rodes, a correspondent for Le Temps interviewed Sun in Hanoi about this time; see Le Temps, June 8, 1907. The article Revwas datelined Hong Kong, but this was a ruse to disguise Sun's actual residence; Fr. Consul, Hong Kong to For. Min., 8 June 1907, MAE Chine, n.s. 11 and Rodes, Jean, La Chine Nouvelle (Paris, 1910), p. 291.Google Scholar

60 Hsüeh, Chün-tu, Huang Hsing, p. 66.Google Scholar

61 For. Min. to Col. Min., 30 Sept. 1907, AOM, Indochine B11(36).

62 Col. Min. to For. Min., 17 Oct. 1907, MAE, Chine, n.s. 199.

63 “Principles to Adopt Toward Chinese Revolutionaries”, 9 12 1907Google Scholar, MAE, Chine, n.s. 225 and AOM, Indochine B11(38).

64 Hsüeh, Chün-tu, Huang Hsing, p. 67Google Scholar; according to French records the artillery captain was on leave, not in retirement, as Chün-tu Hsüeh indicates; Fr. Res., Tonkin to Gov.-Gen., 22 Jan. 1908, AOM, Indochine B11 (37).

65 Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 3 and 6 Dec. 1907; For. Min. to Col. Min., 7 Dec. 1907, MAE, Chine, n.s. 225.

66 For. Min. to Fr. Min. Peking, 9 Dec. 1907, Ibid

67 For. Min. to Col. Min., 3 May 1908, AOM, Indochine B11(37); the French Resident in Tonkin confessed that the presence of a French army captain at Chengnankuan was the source for the Chinese government's belief in French complicity. Fr. Res. Tonkin to Gov.-Gen. 7 Feb. 1908, AOM (Aix) cart. 18.248(1).

68 Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 21 Dec. 1907, MAE, Chine, n.s. 199; Col. Min. to For. Min. 29 Dec. 1907, Ibid; Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 11 Jan. 1908, MAE, Chine, n.s. 200.

69 Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 16 and 28 Jan. 1908, Ibid

70 Deputy Francis de Pressensé to Col. Min. 14 May and 22 Sept. 1908, and For. Min. to Col. Min., 23 Oct. 1908, AOM, Indochine B11 (36).

71 Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 12 Feb. 1908, AOM, Indochine B11(37) and MAE, Chine, n.s. 200.

72 Ibid Beau at first proposed internment on the French penal colony at Con-Ion Island, but finally deported them to Singapore where after protracted negotiation, the British governor permitted them to land.

73 Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 2 Jan. 1908, MAE, Chine, n.s. 225; Fr. Min. Peking to For. Min., 19 Jan. 1908, MAE, Chine, n.s. 200.

74 Same to Same, 18 Jan. 1908, Ibid Fr. Consul at Lungchow to Fr. Consul, Canton, 17 Mar. 1908, MAE, Chine, n.s. 226. Some French businessmen, including ex-army officers, in Tonkin found gunrunning a profitable enterprise. On at Agreeleast two occasions, French authorities discovered attempts to ship arms and revolutionary tracts across the border in the spring of 1908; Fr. Res. Tonkin to Gov.-Gen. 7 Feb., 3 Mar. and 18 Mar. 1908 AOM(Aix), cart. 18.248(1) and Act. Fr. Consul (Reau) at Mongseu to Act. Gov.-Gen., 7 May 1908, Ibid The French Resident for Tonkin complained that efforts to halt arms smuggling were frustrated by employees of French consulates in China who sympathized with the reformist movement and warned of French plans to crack down. Fr. Res. Tonkin to Gov.-Gen. 18 Apr. 1908, Ibid

75 Chargé d'Affaires, Peking to For. Min., 23 Aug. 1907, MAE, Japan, n.s. 21; Fr. Min., Peking For. Min., 7 Jan. 1908, MAE, Chine, n.s. 225; and Mil. Att. Peking to Head 2eme Bureau, 25 Dec. 1907, EMA, Att. Mil., Chine, 1900–1910, cart. 7N1668.

76 Edwards, E. W., “The Far Eastern Agreeleast ments of 1907”, Journal of Modern History, 1954, pp. 349–51.Google Scholar

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81 Col. Min. to acting Gov.-Gen., 7 May 1908, Ibid

82 Act. Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 10 May 1908, Ibid, and act. Gov.-Gen. to Provincial Judge of Yunnan, 15 May 1908, AOM, Indochine B11 (37). Again, the Chinese had reason to suspect certain French army officers. Two of them, Major Maire and Lt. Grellet, became involved with reformist bands on the border. Lt. Grellet, described as an opium smoker who had made indiscreet comments to the Chinese revolutionaries, was reassigned away from the border district, while Major Maire returned to France in late May “without prospect of returning to Indochina”. Act. Gov.-Gen to Commander of French Forces, 1 June 1908 and Comm. Fr. Forces to Gov.-Gen. 3 June 1908, AOM(Aix) cart. 18.248(1).

83 Act. Fr. Consul, Mongseu to Fr. Consul Hong Kong, 21 May 1908, MAE, Chine, n.s. 238. A French businessman involved in selling guns to the rebels, M. Dubois, tried to obtain the sympathetic cooperation of French border officials in Tonkin and the aid of French consuls in Yunnan for the rebel cause but was refused; Fr. Res. at Laokay to Fr. Res. Tonkin, 2 May 1908. AOM(Aix) cart. 39.795 and act. Fr. Consul Mongseu to act. Gov.-Gen., 7 May 1908, AOM (Aix; cart 18.248(1) and Fr. Vice-Consul at Hokow to act. Gov.-Gen., 25 May 1908, Ibid

84 Act. Gov.-Gen. to Fr. Consul, Hong Kong, 28 June 1908; Fr. Consul Hong Kong to Gov.-Gen., 29 June 1908; Fr. Ambassador, Tokyo to Gov.-Gen., 7 July 1908, MAE, Chine, n.s. 200.

85 Memorandum from British Ambassador, Paris to For. Min., 5 Aug. 1905, AOM, Indochine B11 (38).

86 Colonial Secretary, Straits Colony to Fr. Consul, Singapore, 7 Aug. 1908 and Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 26 Sept. 1908, Ibid

87 Act. Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 6 June 1908, Ibid

88 Act. Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 4 June 1908, AOM, Indochine NF 451; act. Gov.-Gen. to Fr. Res. Tonkin, 17 June 1908, AOM(Aix) cart. 18.248 (1).

89 Report: “Political Situation in China for July, August, September and October, 1908,” EMA (Section d'Outre-Mer), Occupation Corps of China, carton 2; Convention of 4 Jan. 1909, MAE, Indochine, n.s. 12.

90 Fr. Min., Bangkok to For. Min., 10 Dec. 1908, MAE, Chine, n.s. 198.

91 Bastid, , “La Diplomatic française,” p. 238.Google Scholar

92 Report: “Piracy: Means to Assure Peace on the Chinese Frontier” by General Pennequin, no date but apparently late 1908, AOM, Indochine B11 (37).

93 Gov.-Gen. to Col. Min., 12 Feb. 1908, Ibid.