29 APRIL 1921 Report from Lieut. Colonel H.B. Orpen Palmer, Military Attaché, Peking. D.M.I. I forward herewith translations of recent Chinese newspaper articles regarding the progress etc. of aviation in China:- (1) The sum set aside for the annual expenses of the Central Aeronautical Department, which was originally $2,400,000 is reported to have been reduced to two million dollars owing to financial difficulties. (16.2.21) (2) The Government has agreed to all the requests of Generals Chang Tso Lin and Ts’ao Kun for the establishment of aeronautical departments at Fengtien and Paotingfu respectively. The question, however, regarding the control of these institutions has not yet been settled. Generals Chang and Ts’ao are desirous of placing them under the control of Fengtien and Paotingfu (in other words under their own control) whereas the Central Government maintains that they should be administered by the Central Aeronautical Department. (18.3.21) (3) Preparations have been made for commencing work on the air-transport route between Peking and Shanghai. Construction work at Ch’ing Ho aerodrome (outside Peking) will soon be commenced and the purchase of land at Chinan (Shantung) and at Hsuchow and Nanking (Chiangsu) for the erection of stations along the route, has been completed. It is intended that the work shall be completed in June or July. The Aeronautical Department has engaged two Chinese Aviators as Instructors, their names are Ts’ao Ming-chih and Wu Ju-K’uei. They graduated at the Aviation School in the Philippines. (18.3.21) (4) Two aeroplanes which were being sent from Peking to Mongolia by rail in connection with the recent disturbances in Mongolia, caught fire near Kalgan whilst en-route and were totally destroyed. (25.3.21) (5) The Aeronautical Department contemplates sending students to England to pursue their aeronautical studies. The Chinese Minister in London has been cabled to and asked to consult with the British Government on the matter. Should a favourable reply be received, selected students will be sent. (14.4.21) (6) It is reported that an Aeronautical Department has been established at Paotingfu (Chihli). The Government thereupon informed General Ts’ao Kun, Military Governor of Chihli, that the Paotingfu Department should be administered and controlled by the Central Government Administration. In his reply, which was wired to Peking, yesterday General Ts’ao stated “that he could not accept this ‘advice’, that the Paotingfu Aeronautical Department must be controlled by the Inspector General of the three Provinces of Chihli, Shantung and Honan (i.e. himself), and that it would be an inconvenience to him if it were placed under the control of the Central Government”. (Note) The above is an instructive example of the feebleness of the Central Government and of the manner in which its authority is flouted by the Provincial Military Governors). (7) The Aeronautical Department is planning to issue a new set of Air Postal Stamps which will be sold for 15, 30 and 50 cents respectively. The design of the stamps will be “an airship flying over the Great Wall”. They will be inscribed in English and in Chinese “Air Post Service”. These stamps will be on sale on the day that aeronautical traffic between Peking and Tientsin is inaugurated. (18.4.21) (8) Since the re-organization of the Aeronautical Department, Ting Chin, the Director, has devoted all his energy in developing the aeronautical service. Recently with the intention of centralizing and placing under one control all provincial departments he proposed to the Government that the establishments at Fengtien and Paotingfu should be placed under the Central Government. Replies have been received from Generals Chang Tso Lin and Ts’ao Kun stating that they could not accept this proposal as they considered that the aeronautical establishments in the Provinces under their control should be administered by themselves, and that inconvenience would be caused if they were put under the control of the Central Government. A number of instructors of the aviation school at Nanyuan (Peking) who recently resigned owing to disagreements with Ting Chin have been engaged by a “certain party” (meaning Fengtien or Paotingfu) for the furtherance of its aeronautical schemes. (15.4.21) (9) Ch’iao Han Chang, chief of the Aeronautical Department of the Three Eastern Provinces (i.e. Manchuria) has made the following arrangements:- (a) The site for the Department will be that of the old Agricultural Experimental Ground, the estimated cost of construction is $200,000.
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