ENGLISHMAN SHOT

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 73, 17 November 1931, Page 2

ENGLISHMAN SHOT

THE JOHN THORBURN 9j CHINA MYSTERY . ■ SOLYED 9 _ LONDON, Saturday. 9 While John Thorburn a young Eng- 9 lishman, who flisappeared Irom 9 Shanghai in June was being inter- 9 rogated after arrest "in suspicious- 9 circumstas«es,''- Golonel Huang Chen- 9 wu losfms tempar and shot him 9 dead. 9 For months the fate qf John Thor- 9 burn was an international question 9

— and a mystery. Ther.e were. pro- H tracted diplomatic exchanges about 9 it, and apparently a genuine desire 9 on thq part qf the Chmese Gq.yern- 9 ment to clear up the mystery. 9 The British Minister in China (Sir 9 Miles Lampson) has now received 9 from the Ghinese Government a Note 9 reciting the circumstances of Thor-. 9 hurn's death. 9 t After explaining the diffieulties 9 which delayed the earlier investiga- 9 tions, the Note says: "It is with, fh'e 9 utmost regret that the Chinese Go- 9 verment has to inform youy Excel- 9 lency that Mr. Thorburn, after he ha'd 9 shot and wounded two grendames 9 (who suhsequ'ently diedj, was arrest- 9 ed near Quinsan 'on June 2, and met 9 his death at Suchow at. the hands of 9 Colonel Huang Chen-wu on June 8: 9 "The Chinese Government further 9 regrets that /it 'is now elqaf t|iat 9 Colonel Huang Chen-wu sought to 9 suppress the truth as to what . had ■ occurred, even from the Government." H As the result of a eourt-martial, ■ Colonel Huang Chen-wu was sen- ■ tenced to 14 years' imprisonment, ■ and "the Chinese Government iias ■ caused the verdict to he comxnunicat- H ed to all its military cpmmanders. I Justice to be Upheid. 9 The Note reafiirms the dotermina- ■ tion of the Chinese. Government tq 9 uphold the modern conception pf 3U?- 9 tice, and see it administered within 9 Ghinese territory,- -and expresses the 9 hope that the action taken in this 9 case will convince the British -Govern- 9 ment of the sincerity of Ghina's pro- 9 fessions in this respect- 9 A report of the Chinese inquiries * 9 into the case states that after ar- 9 rest Thorburn coneealed his identity. 9 Realising what he had done when the 9 fatal shot had been fired, Golonel 9 Huang Chen-wu destroyed all evi- 9 dence, including the corpse, and or- 9 dered his men not to divulge any- 9 thing. The facts were afterwards 9 elicited from suhsordinate officers. 9