Why Chinese Pirates Survive

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 550, 31 December 1928, Page 14

Why Chinese Pirates Survive

Impossible to Trace WHERE LIFE IS CHEAP How is it that the British Navy, which has wiped out slave traffickers in the Persian Gulf and swept the Red Sea clean of Arab raiders, is unable to suppress piracy in China? asks a naval officer in the London “Evening News.”

Ever since the news cf the Anking outrage, when a British ship was attacked by pirates, this question has been asked with a good dead of uneasiness. As one who has had some experience of the Navy’s war against the sea bandits of the East, perhaps I may be able to answer it. nas qspija ‘auxin uu m i[oo[ ‘jsaij

power has a long arm in China; it reaches 1,800 miles inland right to the Upper Yangtse region. Throughout all this vast stretch of seaboard and river there is a population which regards piracy and brigandage as honourable, lawful and, indeed, praiseworthy professions. Chinese pirates are organised like trusts and corporations, with elaborate spy systems, through which they are kept informed of likely victims and favourable openings for business.

Cowardly Rascals Nearly always their procedure is the same. A gang of pirates join a ship as ordinary passengers, and loot her if they see a chance of doing it successfully. If they see no such chance, they remain ordinary passengers until the end of the voyage. Very seldom will they attack a vessel from outboard, for they are cowardly rascals, and, though they will murder as readily as they will rob, they have little stomach for fighting. Their practice is to run the captured ship into Bias Bay or one other of their lairs, take all they can out of her, and then vanish ashore. Once there, search for them is hopeless. A warship may come along in due course and bombard the “stronghold,” as it is popularly mis-named, into which the thieves have vanished. A few ramshackle houses are knocked down; but if anybody suffers it is not the pirates themselves. They have vanished into the blue. Supposing a warship lands a party for the purpose of capturing pirates who have gone ashore at any particular place. A smiling, apologetic headman will meet the party on the beach with the assurance that all the culprits have gone into the interior, which is probably the truth.

Innocent Executed But if this story is not accepted, and the headman sees that prisoners must be forthcoming, he will promptly hand over to justice a number of perfectly innocent folk from his village. Indeed, Chinese local authorities will go so far as to themselves lop off the heads of these innocent victims when they deem it necessary. It Is quite easy for the authorities to substitute the innocent for the guilty in this way without any objecion being made by the victims. For there is an ancient Chinese custom of "substitution,” under which a condemned man may purchase a substitute to suffer in his stead. There are always Chinese who are prepared to sell their own lives in this way for the benefit of their families.

Some years of service on the China Station convinced me that piracy in China will never be completely suppressed until the mentality of the Chinese is altered.

And I doubt whether that will ever happen.