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‘The British boss is gone and will never return’: Communist takeovers of British companies in Shanghai (1949–1954)*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2013

JONATHAN J. HOWLETT
JONATHAN J. HOWLETT*
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of York, UK Email: jon.howlett@york.ac.uk
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Abstract

In May 1949 the Chinese Communist Party seized Shanghai. Rather than being elated at the prospect of harnessing the economic power of China's largest city to complete the revolution, the Communists approached it cautiously. How would the Chinese Communist Party set about transforming this free-wheeling port city with a ‘semi-colonial’ past into an orderly and socialist city? How would it balance ideology and pragmatism in reshaping Shanghai? This paper uses the takeover of two British companies as case studies to explore these issues at the ground level. It is argued that the means by which these companies were transformed tell us much about the Party and its state-building policies. When cadres entered foreign companies, their priority was not radical change and anti-imperialism, but rather fostering a sense of stability and unity to avoid disrupting production. Their gradual approach was due in large part to the Party's awareness of its own limited skills, resources and manpower, but also to its leaders and cadres recognizing that before they could remake Shanghai anew they had first to deal with the material and human legacies of the past.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 6 , November 2013 , pp. 1941 - 1976
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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Footnotes

*

The author would like to acknowledge the kind assistance of Professor Robert Bickers and Koji Hirata in the production of this paper, as well as the academic and administrative staff of the AHRC-funded British Inter-University China Centre. Thanks are also due to Butterfield and Swire for the use of their company archive.

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47 TNA FO 371/75929, British coal mining interests in China; W. Pryor to E. J. Nathan (Chinese Engineering and Mining Company), April 1949; Nanjing to Foreign Office, No. 522, 27 April 1949.

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52 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, 2 Southern Street, Chaoyang men, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100701 [hereafter MFA], MFA 118-00014-07, Wo Waijiao Bu zhaoji youguan bumen kaihui shangtao Yingguo shangren cheli wenti [Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls meeting of relevant bureaux to discuss problem of withdrawal of British businessmen], 24 May 1952–30 May 1952; 1952 nian 5 yue 30 ri guanyu Yingshang wenti de huiyi fayan jilu, Waijiao Bu OuFei Si Yi Ke [First Section of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Europe and Africa Department 30 May 1952, record of meeting on problem of British businessmen].

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55 For more on Butterfield and Swire interests after 1949 see Shai, Fate of British and French Firms, pp. 73–85.

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57 JSSCA CHINA CL6, Withdrawal from China, pp. 1–3.

58 ‘Many Difficulties in the Far East,’ The Times (Annual Financial and Commercial Review), 13 October 1952, p. xxviii.

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60 MFA 118-00014-07, Yingguo shangren cheli wenti.

61 SMA B13-2-41-12, Waishi Chu Jingjian Gongzuo de Baogao [Foreign Affairs Department report on economizing work], 27 December 1951.

62 Zhang Hanfu zhuan, pp. 149–150; ‘Plan for furthering’ (guanyu 1953 nian zhi 1954 nian nei jinyibu jiben suqing diguozhuyi zai Hua jingji tequan de fangan) and the ‘Outline for dealing with’ (san nian lai chuli diguozhuyi zai Hua caichan de gaikuang).

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69 Shao, China, Britain, pp. 76–79.

70 The Shanghai News, ‘SMCC Orders Requisition of British Shipyards Here’, 18 August 1952.

71 SMA B1-2-1464-17, Zhongguo Renmin Jiefang Jun Shanghai Shi Renmin Zhengfu Junshi Guanzhi Weiyuanhui guanyu jueding zhengyong Yingguo zai Shanghai Shi de ‘Shanghai Dianche Gongsi,’ ‘Shanghai Zilaishui Gongsi,’ ‘Shanghai Meiqi Gongsi’ ji ‘Fengmao Gongsi’ quanbu caichan de mingling [Chinese People's Liberation Army Shanghai People's Government Military Control Committee, order on decision to expropriate the entire assets of Shanghai British ‘Shanghai Tram Company,’ ‘Shanghai Waterworks Company,’ ‘Shanghai Gas Company’ and ‘Mackenzie & Company’], 20 November 1952.

72 Shao, China, Britain, pp. 80–83.

73 TNA FO 371/83348, British Commercial Policy in China; N. C. C. Trench, 1 July 1950 on Shanghai to Foreign Office, No. 565, 9 June 1950.

74 Zhou et al, Shanghai waishi zh, pp. 314–317.

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77 MFA 118-00046-12, Shanghai Shi Waiqiao Shiwu Chu Ba-Jiu Yue gongzuo baogao [Work report of the Shanghai Foreign Citizens Affairs Department for August-September], 21 September 1949.

78 See for example the development of the Chinese Communist Party organs in public utility companies following the bombings of 6 February 1950; SMA A59-1-31-1, Zhonggong Shanghai Shi Gongyong Shiye Weiyuanhui guanyu fazhan dang de tongzhi [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Public Utility Committee notice regarding development of the Party], 24 March 1950.

79 TNA FO 371/92258, Reports and situation of foreign-owned public utility companies in Shanghai, 1951; Shanghai Foreign-Owned Utility Companies; Amendments to a Report written on the 13 September 1949, E. R. Talamo, Consul (Commercial), 5 May 1951.

80 TNA FO 371/83348, British Commercial Policy in China; Shanghai to Foreign Office, 565, 9 June 1950.

81 TNA FO 371/92258, Reports and situation; Shanghai Power Co., 6 January 1951; Shanghai to Foreign Office, 9 April 1951.

82 TNA FO 371/92258, Reports and situation; Arrest of Employees of Shanghai Power Station, Shanghai to Foreign Office, 5 April 1951; for more on this company see Tozer, W. W. (1977). ‘Last Bridge to China: The Shanghai Power Company, the Truman Administration and the Chinese Communists,’ Diplomatic History, vol 1, issue 1, pp. 1–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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84 Shao, China, Britain, p. 82.

85 TNA FO 371/92258, Reports and situation; Memorandum on the Shanghai Public Utility Companies; Shanghai Electric Construction Company Limited (British Trams), 5 January 1951; Shanghai Utility Companies, 13 September 1949; Shanghai Gas Company, Ltd., Annual General Meeting, 19 September 1951; The Shanghai Electric Construction Company Ltd., AGM, 25 September 1951.

86 National Archives II at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740–6001 [hereafter NARA], RG 59 General Records of the Dept. of State, 1950–54, Box 4197, Observations on the Effect of Communist Rule and the ‘Russian Invasion of Shanghai’ by Albert Fraleigh,’ 6 January 1951.

87 Zhihua, Shen (2003). Sulian zhuanjia zai Zhongguo (1948–1960) [Soviet Experts in China: 1948–1960] Zhongguo Guoji Chubanshe [China International Publishing House], Beijing, pp. 92–140Google Scholar.

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89 The Shanghai News, ‘Shanghai People Support Requisition of 4 Firms’, 23 November 1952.

90 SMA B261-1-65, Shanghai Shi Yingdian dang zongzhi 1952 nian zhengyong Yingshang dianche gongsi de fangan, baogao, xiaogao, xuanchuan ziliao [Shanghai Chinese Communist Party British Tram Company central branch 1952 plan for expropriation of British Tram Company, reports, brief reports and propaganda materials], November–December 1952; Zhengyong Yingshang Shanghai Dianche Gongsi de juti fangan yu buzhuo [Concrete plan and procedure for expropriation of the British Shanghai Tram Company].

91 Ibid.

92 Kaiji, Gu (1999). ‘Kangzhan shiqi Shanghai gongwei xitong zhi yuan Xin Si Jun qingkuang huiyi (gaolu)’ [Record of Assistance Given to the New Fourth Army by the ‘Industry Committee’ in the time of the War of Resistance against Japan] in Shanghai shi youzheng guanli ju [Shanghai Municipal Post Administration Bureau], Huadong zhanshi jiaotong tongxin shiliao huibian, Shanghai juan [Collection of Materials on East China Transport and Communications in Wartime, Shanghai Volume], Renmin Youdian Chubanshe [People's Post and Telecommunications Publishing House], Shanghai, pp. 435–438Google Scholar.

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94 Ibid. ‘This so called ‘takeover’. . .’ (suowei jieguan, jiu shi boduo le Yingguo zifang de guanliquan lingdaoquan, na lai you women dajia guan, bing bu shi wo lai jieguan, dajia bei jieguan, yi juhua, shiji shang shi gongren jieguan).

95 Ibid.

96 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; Zhonggong Shanghai Shi Dianche Gongsi Dang Weihui, xuanchuan cankao cailiao, 1001 [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Tram Company Party Committee, propaganda consultative materials, 1001], 26 November 1952; [1002], 10 December 1952; [1003], 12 December 1952.

97 NARA RG59, Box 4204, 793.00/8-1952; Transmission of copies of reports of British interrogations of British subjects recently arrived from Communist China, 2 March 1953.

98 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; Zhengyong Yingshang Shanghai Dianche Gongsi de juti fangan yu buzhuo; SMA A59-1-1-126, zhengyong gongzuo de er ci zonghe baogao, 12 December 1952.

99 Ibid.

100 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; Shanghai Shi Dianche Gongsi Dang Weihu, zhengyong gongzuo di yi jieduan xiaogao [Shanghai Tram Company Party Committee, Brief report on the first period of expropriation work], 1952.

101 SMA A56-2-52-35, Zhongyang Renmin Zhengfu Waijiaobu Shanghai Qu Qangwu Guanli Ju guanyu Taigu, gongsi heying ma tou, bochuan yunshu gongsi nianjiang chuli de qingshi [Central People's Government Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shanghai District Harbour Management Bureau, request for instructions regarding dealing with yearly bonuses in Swire, state-private docks and lighter haulage companies], 30 November 1954.

102 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; di yi jieduan gongzo xiaogao.

103 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; di yi jieduan xiaogao; Shanghai Shi Dianche Gongsi Dang Weihui zhengyong jieguan gongzuo zonggao [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Tram Company Party Committee summary of expropriation take over work], 20 November 1952–20 December 1952; SMA A59-1-1-126, zhengyong gongzuo de er ci zonghe baogao, 12 December 1952.

104 Doak Barnett, A. (1964). Communist China: the Early Years 1949–55, Pall Mall Press, London, pp. 89–104.Google Scholar

105 Hinton, W. (1972). Fanshen; A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village, Penguin, Harmondsworth, p. 261.Google Scholar

106 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; di yi jieduan xiaogao; zhengyong jieguan gongzuo zonggao, 20 November 1952–20 December 1952; SMA A59-1-1-126, zhengyong gongzuo de er ci zonghe baogao, 12 December 1952.

107 The Shanghai News, ‘Public Utilities Workers Sign Patriotic Compacts’, 3 April 1951.

108 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; Zhengyong Yingshang Shanghai Dianche Gongsi de juti fangan.

109 SMA B261-2-273, Zhonggong Shanghai Shi Dianche Gongsi Dang Zhibu (Yingdian) guanyu dang he gongzuo jihua [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Tram Company Party Branch (British Trams) regarding plan for Party work], June 1950; Yingdian Zongzhibu wu yufen gongzuo zonghe [British Tram Company Central Party Branch summary of work for May], June 1950; SMA A59-1-63, Yingshang Shanghai Dianche Gongsi zhibu gongzuo zongjie [British Shanghai Tram Company Branch summary of work], 1950; SMA A59-1-253-32, Zhonggong Shanghai Shi Gongyong Shiye Dangwei Yingdian zhi Weiyuanhui kang Mei yuan Chao Yingdian chubu zongjie [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Public Utility Party Committee British Tram Company Committee preliminary summary], 22 February 1951.

110 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; xuanchuan cankao cailiao.

111 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; xuanchuan cankao cailiao, 1001.

112 See for example SMA A59-1-258-10, Zhonggong Shanghai Shiwei Gongyong Shiye weihui Yingdian Zongzhi Weiyuanhui guanyu jindu yundong buzhuo he zuzhi liliang de huibao [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Committee Public Utility Committee, British Tram Company Central Party Branch Committee report on procedure of anti-drug movement and organisational strength], 21 August 1952; SMA A59-1-253-32, kang Mei yuan Chao Yingdian chubu zongjie; for more on political campaigns see Gaulton, R. (1981). ‘Political mobilization in Shanghai, 1949–1951’, in Howe, C. (ed.), Shanghai: Revolution and development in an Asian metropolis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 35–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Brugger, Liberation and Transformation, pp. 68–86.

113 SMA B261-1-65, zhengyong Yingshang; xuanchuan cankao cailiao; on ‘old’ and ‘new’ Shanghai see for example Betta, C. (2000). ‘Myth and Memory: Chinese Portrayal of Hardoon, Luo Jialing and the Aili Garden between 1924 and 1995,’ in Malek, Roman and Augustin, Sankt (eds), Jews in China; From Kaifeng to Shanghai, Steyler Verlag, Monumenta Serica, Nettetal, pp. 375–400.Google Scholar

114 SMA A59-1-1-129, Zhonggong Shanghai Shi Gongyong Shiye Weiyuanhui guanyu 1952 nian yi nian lai gongyong shiye gongzuo de chubu zongjie baogao [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Public Utilities Committee summary report on work in public utilities over the past year in 1952], 6 January 1953.

115 SMA A59-1-47-5, Zhonggong Shanghai Shi Gongyong Shiye Weiyuanhui guanyu quxiao nianjiang tui xiang qunzhong hou qingkuang huibao [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Public Utilities Committee report on situation following cancellation of yearly bonuses being announced to workers], 28 December 1953; SMA A59-1-47-12, Zhonggong Shanghai Shi Gongyong Shiye Weiyuanhui guanyu quxiao nianjiang shidang zhaogu zhigong de qingshi baogao [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Public Utilities Committee report requesting instructions on cancelling of annual bonuses and appropriately looking after workers], 19 December 1953; SMA A59-1-42, Zhonggong Shanghai Shi Gongyong Shiye Weiyuanhui guanyu liu da waishang qiye tuizhijin, jianxin wenti baogao ji youguan cailiao [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Public Utilities Committee reports and related materials on problem of pensions and wage reductions], May 1950–December 1953.

116 JSSCA CHINA CL6, Withdrawal from China, pp. 47–49.

117 JSSCA CHINA CL6, Minutes of meetings of the Directors of the Orient Paint, Colour and Varnish Company, February 1950, September 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 (liquidation).

118 SMA B163-1-150-5, Shanghai Shi Renmin Zhengfu Waishi Chu guanyu Shanghai Yongguang Youqi Gongsi chuzu de baogao; Yongguang Youqi Chang diaocha jingguo ji yijian [Opinion following investigation into Orient Paint Factory]; SMA B163-1-150-102, Yongguang Youqi Gufen Youxian Gongsi jianshi [Brief History of the Orient Paint, Colour and Varnish Company Ltd.], 1952.

119 JSSCA CHINA CL6, Withdrawal from China, pp. 47–49.

120 Ibid.

121 SMA B163-1-150-11, Shanghai Renmin Zhengfu Waishi Chu guanyu Yingshang Shanghai Yongguang Youqi Gongsi zhuanrang wenti de baogao [Shanghai People's Government Foreign Affairs Department report on question of transfer of the British Shanghai Orient Paint Company], 31 March 1953; SMA B163-1-150-38, Guanyu Yingshang Yongguang Youqi Gongsi zhuanrang wenti; Shanghai Foreign Affairs Department to Ministry of Foreign Affairs Beijing, 31 March 1953; SMA B163-1-150-86, Kailin Youqi Yanliao Gongye Gongsi guanyu jieguan Shanghai Youqi Chang chubu fangan [Kailin Paint and Colour Industrial Company initial plan for taking over the Shanghai Paint Factory [Orient]], 31 March 1953.

122 JSSCA CHINA CL6, Withdrawal from China, pp. 47–49.

123 JSSCA CHINA CL6, Withdrawal from China, pp. 47-49; JSSCA CHINACL3–112A, Orient Paint, Colour and Varnish Company Transfer Agreement, 16 October 1953.

124 JSSCA CHINA CL6, English translation of Deed of Transfer of Orient Paint, Colour and Varnish Company, 11 August 1954.

125 SMA B163-1-150-78, Shanghai Yongguang Youqi Chang gongzuo zu gongzuo baogao [Shanghai Orient Paint Factory work team work report], 17 June 1953; SMA B163-1-150-63, Shanghai Shi Renmin Zhengfu Gongye Ju guanyu Shanghai Yongguang Youqi Chang zuzhi jigou de yijian [Shanghai People's Government Industry Bureau opinion regarding organisation and structure of Shanghai Orient Paint Factory], 29 August 1953.

126 SMA B163-1-150-17, Shanghai Yongguang Youqi Chang guanyu jieguan gongzuo juti jihua [Specific report on takeover work for Shanghai Orient Paint Factory], 28 July 1953; qunzhong gongzuo juti jihua [Specific report on mass work].

127 Ibid.

128 SMA Q38-20-15, Yongguang Youhua Gufen Youxian Gongsi waiwen wenjian [Orient Paint Company Ltd., foreign language materials]; Record of Inaugural Union Meeting, 12 March 1949; SMA B163-1-150-17, Shanghai Yongguang Youqi Chang guanyu jieguan gongzuo juti jihua; qunzhong gongzuo juti jihua.

129 SMA B163-1-150-107, Shanghai Yongguang Youqi Chang gongzuo zu guanyu jieguan zhunbei gongzuo jihua [Shanghai Orient Paint Factory work team plan for takeover preparation work], 16 July 1953.

130 Ibid.

131 SMA B163-1-150-78, gongzuo baogao.

132 SMA B163-1-150-17, jieguan gongzuo juti jihua; qunzhong gongzuo juti jihua; SMA B163-1-150-86, chubu fangan.

133 SMA B163-1-150-107, jieguan zhunbei gongzuo jihua.

134 SMA B163-1-150-17, jieguan gongzuo juti jihua; qunzhong gongzuo juti jihua.

135 Ibid.

136 SMA B163-1-150-63, zuzhi jigou de yijian.

137 SMA B163-1-150-17, jieguan gongzuo juti jihua; qunzhong gongzuo juti jihua; SMA B163-1-150-98, Kailin Youqi Yanliao Gongye Gongsi guanyu zhengyong Shanghai Yongguang Youqi Chang Wenti, jiehe ben chang juti qingkuang de chubu yijian [Kailin Paint and Colour Company initial report on question of expropriating Shanghai Orient Paint Factory providing initial opinion on concrete situation of integrating this factory], 1953; SMA B163-1-150-63, zuzhi jigou de yijian.

138 SMA B163-1-150-78, gongzuo baogao.

139 SMA B163-1-150-17, jieguan gongzuo juti jihua; qunzhong gongzuo juti jihua.

140 SMA B163-1-150-86, chubu fangan.

141 SMA B163-1-58-45, Difang guoying Shanghai Huaguang Pijiu Chang guanyu jieguan Yihe Pijiu Chang gongzuo jihua [Local state-owned Shanghai Huaguang Brewery work plan for taking over EWO Brewery], 12 November 1953; SMA B163-1-58-38, Huadong Gongye Bu Yimin Gongye Gongsi, Shanghai Youzhi Gongye Lianhe zong guanli chu yu ni jieguan Yingshang Yihe Pijiu Gongsi de zonghe baogao [East China Industrial Bureau Yimin Industrial Company Shanghai Fats Industry United Management Department consolidated report on plan to take over EWO Brewery], 3 February 1953; SMA A51-1-16-54, Zhonggong Shanghai Qing Gongye Weiyuanhui Difang Gongye Weiyuanhui guanyu jieguan Yihe Pijiu Chang gongzuo de zongjie baogao [Chinese Communist Party Shanghai Light Industry Committee, Local Industry Committee summary report regarding work of taking over EWO Brewery], 1953.

142 NARA RG59, Box 4209, 793.00/10–654, American Consul General Hong Kong to State Department, Washington, Conditions in Shanghai described by Veitch, British Acting Consul General, 6 October 1954.

143 MFA 118-00014-05, Guanyu Shanghai de Yingguo shangren dui cheli de fanying ji wo Shanghai Waishi Chu de kanfa yu yijian [Shanghai Foreign Affairs Department viewpoint and opinion on reaction of British businessmen to withdrawal], 26 May 1951–28 June 1952; Zhou et al, Shanghai waishi zhi, p. 317.

144 Shao, China, Britain, p. 135.

145 SMA A37-1-60-134, Zhongguo Feizao Gongsi guanyu anquan weisheng da jiancha yundong de zongjie baogao [China Soap Company summary report of safety and hygiene investigation campaign], 1952. For China-wide hygiene campaigns see Rogaski, R. (2002). ‘Nature, Annihilation, and Modernity: China's Korean War Germ-Warfare Experience Reconsidered’, Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 381–415CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

146 SMA B163-1-150-78, gongzuo baogao.

147 SMA B163-1-150-107, jieguan zhunbei gongzuo jihua.

148 SMA B163-1-150-17, jieguan gongzuo juti jihua; qunzhong gongzuo juti jihua; SMA B163-1-150-78, Shanghai Yongguang Youqi Chang gongzuo zu gongzuo baogao.

149 SMA B163-1-150-17, jieguan gongzuo juti jihua; qunzhong gongzuo juti jihua.

150 SMA B163-1-150-49, Difang guoying Shanghai Youqi Chang gaikuang [Summary of local state owned enterprise the Shanghai Paint Factory], 26 April 1954.

151 SMA B163-1-150-49, Difang guoying Shanghai Youqi Chang gaikuang.

152 Cliver, R. (2009). ‘Minzhu Guanli: the democratization of factory management in the Chinese revolution,’ Labor History, vol. 50, no. 4, p. 420CrossRefGoogle Scholar; this improvement was noted by the British: NARA RG59, Box 4209, 793.00/10–654, Conditions in Shanghai described by Veitch; see also Perry, E. J., ‘Masters of the Country? Shanghai Workers in the Early People's Republic,’ in Dilemmas of Victory, pp. 59–79.

153 SMA A51-1-53-97, Zhonggong Yongguang Youqi Chang zhibu weiyuanhui guanyu zhengzhi gongzuo de jiancha baogao [Chinese Communist Party Orient Paint Factory branch committee investigative report on political work], 2 December 1954.