N the morning of June 4 Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin rose

by

TOM McEWEN

in the British

C) House of Commons, adjusted his horn-rim glasses and addressed the House: “The

-Chinese government has expressed profound regret at th
port in Shangtung on April

ship WAN SHEN at a

has been taken against the pilots responsible. .

compensation with UNRRA.”

Earlier, on ‘the morning of
April 2, millions of people
Gpening their daily newspapers
read in the headlines: REDS
BOMB MERCY SHIP. COM-
MUNISTS TRY TO SINK
UNRRA SUPPLY SHIP, CANA-
DIANS ON BOARD SHIP AT-
TACKED BY REDS.

Behind this story “of +the
bombing of an UNRRA ship in
a Chinese port can be traced
the sinister outline of Ameri-
ean imperialist intrigue and
Kuomintang corruption — twin
stokers in the fires of civil war
against the Chinese people.

It was given to the Pacific
Tribune by a modest unassum-
ing Canadian seaman who has
spent twenty-four years of his
life at sea, attained the rank
of chief officer, and has a
splendid war record in the
merchant marine. Torpedoed
four times during the war; held
prisoner of war by the Japan-
ese in the fall of Singapore,
the recipient of honorable recog-
nition by governments of the
British Commonwealth, Chief
Officer William D. Haining of
Vancouver has good cause to
reject the story given to mil-
lions of workers by the com-
mercial press on the ‘Red’
bombing, together with the
‘profound regrets’ of Chiang
Kai-shek given through the
British foreign secretary. And
as for the ‘compensation’ of
- UNRRA—it all depends who is

being compensated and by

whom? ;
J

T + eight o’clock on _ the

morning of April 2 the Brit-
ish captain of the China Water
Transport Wan Shen _ brought
tis ship into the North China

_ FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 1947

port of Chih Shiu So. His cargo
was UNRRA supplies, consigned
to the Communist liberated
areas of North China through
the agency of the China Liber-
ated Areas Relief Association
(CLARA), in accordance with
the provisions of the basic
agreement between UNRRA and
the Nationalist government of
Chiang Kai-shek. _ -

“Would the captain move his

ship a little closer inshore?” a
Kuomingtang official obsequi-
ously requested at 9 am. The
captain did as -requested. At
9.25 am. two American-built
P.41’s with the blue and white
insignia of the Nationalist gov-
ernment (with three gold bands
added). roared over the Wan
Shen dropping high explosive
bombs and raking the ship’s
@ecks with 20-calibre machine
gun fire. Four times ... swoop-
ing low, the P.4l’s returned to
the bombing and strafing of a
defenseless ship.
In the first unexpected attack
the captain and Chief Officer
Haining were founded, the cap-
tain seriously. In the second
round two Chinese seamen were
hit with shrapnel. Following
their attack on the Wan Shen
in the harbor of Chih Shiu So
the P.41’s departed in the nor-
therly direction of Tsingtao.

The captain and his men who
who were badly wounded in the
first and second attacks were
taken aboard the U.S. destroy-
er D.D.716, which had answered
the SOS of the Wan Shen as
she put to sea to avoid fur-
ther attacks.

Carrying out his captain’s or-
ders, given when the latter was
transfered to the D.D.716,
Chief Officer Haining took the

2 this year. 2
. and orders issued for the question of

e bombing of the relief
disciplinary action

Wan Shen to quarantine an-
chorage at Tsingtao, and then
went ashore to the U.S. hospital
ship Repose for badly needed
medical treatment. |

It is important to note that
the port of Tsingtao, approxi-
mately 60 miles north of Chih
Shiu So where the bombing took
place is a ‘closed port,’ where
the U.S. navy governs in ac-

_cordance with the Truman Doc-

trine. As a ‘closed port’ it serves
as a U.S. barrier between the
liberated communist - controlled
areas and the Soviet-controlled
port of Dairen. Only cargo ships
under UNRRA _ or = subsidiary
charter can enter Tsingtao.
Returning to his ship the fol-
lowing day, Chief Officer Hain-
ing had some distinguished visi-
tors, official representatives of

Chiang Kai-shek. Yen Kuo-fu, |

Shangtung representative of the
National Assembly, and T. F.
Tsai, Shangtung-Tsingtao region-
al office of the Chinese Nation-
al Relief and Rehabilitation As-
sociation (CNRRA).

“So sorry,’ so sorry,’ mur-
mured Yen Kou-fu, bowing low
and presenting the Canadian
cfficer “with a huge bouquet of
exquisite flowers. “So sorry...
an accident . . perhaps these
planes came from Dairen, and
not acquainted with the mark-
ings of your ship . . . so sorry.”

The crafty Yen Kuo-fu_ pro-
fessed not to know whether the
planes were Communist or Na-
tionalist. “But yes,” he opined,
“they must have come from
Dairen”—which, of course, would
make them Communist.

Such palavers were a bit try-
ing to a chief officer whose cap-
tain had just been pretty badly
shot up, and whose own legs

were still full of shrapnel splin-'
ters. “Is this your Own excuse,
or did it come from Nanking?”
he asked. :

Yen Kuo-fu assumed a poker-
‘face and took his leave. On
the gang plank he replaced his
‘so sorry’ mask and invited the
Canadian to the hospitality of a
dinner as a mark of “apprecia-
tion of injuries received.”

a @

HIEF Officer MHaining had

more important business on
his mind than formal dinners.
On the morning of the 7th he
paid a visit to the Tsingtao air-
port. There he saw 14 P41 fighter
planes, all with the insignia of
the Nationalist government, and
only two with the three gold.
bands behind the insignia, the
identical markings of the planes
which had attacked his ship.

A long line of Scottish ances-
tors has endowed Chief Officer
Haining with a native trait for
being ‘canny.’ Not good to jump
to too many conclusions even
when ashore, thought this Van-
couver seaman. Checking with
a U.S. Marine Corps captain
he learned that a log is kept
of all planes checking out and
in. He learned that two of the
fourteen planes—the ‘two with
the national insignia and the
three gold bands had taken off
on the morning of the 2nd about
9 am., heading in the direction
of Chih Shiu So. They returned
to the airfield a few minutes
after 10 o’clock. :

The Marine captain, who was
possibly not well up in atomic
diplomacy, also advanced the in-
fermation that “these planes
were armed when they took
cff, but had no bombs in the
carriers when they returned.”

Yen Kuo-fu’s ‘apologies,’ his
bouquet of exquisite flowers and
his murmured “Dairen” were
transformed into a horror story,
read by millions of people
throughout the world, to the
effect that the Communists had
bombed a UNRRA mercy ship.

The ‘correction’ made weeks
later, even the ‘profound regrets’ —
voiced by Ernest Bevin on be
half of Chiang Kai-shek, were
effectively buried by the lords
of the press in back pages. It
was intended that the lie should
stick, and had it not been for
the courage and integrity of an
officer of the Canadian Mer-
chant Marine, in all probability
it would have done.

®
‘HIS does not end the story
for Chief Officer Haining, but
it serves to round out the lar
ger story of imperialist intrigue
and cunning on the checker
board of power-politics in China
It is now clear from documents
and statements carried in the
Chinese press, that UNRRA was
used by Chiang Kia-shek, with
U.S. imperialist backing, a3 ®
political weapon against the
Chinese people.
On April 15 the CLARA openly
accused the UNRRA of coward-
ice and said: ‘It has long bee?
evident that the government
(Nationalist) has interfered with
the equitable distribution of T@
lief contrary to its basic agree
ment with UNRRA, and that
the bombing of the Wan Shen
was a deliberate attempt on the
part of the Chiang Kai-shek
government to intimidate the
UNRRA, and thereby stop all
1elief and medical supplies
reaching the people in thé
Communist-controlled areas.’
Even before the bombing of
the Wan Shen UNRRA supplies.
for the Communist areas
been reduced to a trickle.
the 1,900,000 tons of
supplies reaching China, 42,750
tons, or less than 2.25 percent
have been distributed in the ii
erated areas, according t? Y
survey made by the C
The bombing of the wan
Shen was a ruse ‘of the KUO”
mingtang government, aided ant
abetted by U.S. dollar imperial
ism, to cut the last trickle 2
food and medicine to the liber
ated areas. :
It fell to the honor 9°
a Canadian seaman to plan
important part in a great ar
and he played it well.
The Shangtung Regional Of
fice of the CLARA sent
message to Chief Officer Will
D. Haining and the seamen
Wan Shen. the
“Dear workers on board a
Wan Shen. You have undertake® —
such great hardships in prins”
ing relief supplies to the liber
ated areas to enable the
people of this area to have
cess to a few of the amenities:
In addition to expressing pope

jam
of

heartfelt gratitude .. . We “)
cur friendship will be furtll
jn 0°

cemented in the future, de
common efforts to achieve 1”
pendence, democracy and Pi
perity for the Chinese peor
Here’s to unity amone —
workers . . he
e : the.
RDERS are issued for tion
question of compens® Or
with UNRRA,” sonorously the
nounced Ernest Bevin 0?
(Continued on Page 12)
See CHIANG KAI-SHES

dwellings.

only were its two chiefs

taken along with them,

Promotion-Kuomintang style — |

A EARMED at the high rate of losses among Hi |
generals (202 have been killed or captured this -
year), Chiang Kai-shek recently ordered commanders
to hide their identity during active operations.

The officers were told to dress as privates and
wear insignia in their inside pockets. Instead of grab-
bing the best house in a village,
cautioned to set up headquarters

The 70th Kuomintang division,
lowed this advice to the letter. But

secret orders outlining the new safety regulations

commanders W€
in poorer quality

it is reported,
it didn’t help.
of staff captured but

were

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FAS