May Thirtieth Movement

3 min readMay 30, 2022

Prologue

This is the story of one of the most famous labor and anti-imperialist movements of the middle-period era of the Republic of China. May Thirtieth Movement was a nationwide series of strikes and put realistically, the largest anti-foreign demonstration China had yet experienced. Let’s explore the backstory of the great movement that engulfed the whole of China.

Backstory

The backstory of this major labor and anti-imperialist movement is set in the aftermath of 1924’s Second Zhili–Fengtian War after which China found itself in the midst of one of the most destructive periods of turmoil since 1911. The immediate result of the war was the conflict the Zhili-controlled government, backed by varied Euro-American business interests, was ousted from power by pro-Japanese warlord Zhang Zuolin. Zhang’s central government, though victorious, was left bankrupt. This, along with the public grief at the recent death of Sun Yat-sen, gave the KMT (Nationalist) and Communist parties, an opportunity to seek to foment pro-Chinese, anti-imperial and anti-western organizations and propaganda within major Chinese cities.

Fast Forward to 1925 when the conflicts and the strike intensified. The main issues involved the lack of legal factory inspection, worker grievances and equal rights. Many were displeased with the upcoming Child Employment Bill, and the council’s plan to introduce a new censorship law was the main issue. In February, the conflict took a drastic turn when a Japanese manager died after their group was attacked. As a response to this, Japanese foremen took to carrying pistols while on duty, which resulted in the death of a demonstrator named Ku Cheng-Hung. This enraged demonstrators, Chinese unions, and student groups. This became one of the factors that led to the May Thirtieth Movement.

The May Thirtieth Movement

The ordinary Saturday morning of 30 May 1925, didn’t remain ordinary when at 9:00 A.M., more than three thousand students and workers infiltrated the international Settlement. May 30th was the date for the trial of the arrested students. Carrying huge banners, scattering leaflets, and giving speeches, the protesters moved forwards, raising their voices against the students arrested for demonstrating in support of strikes in the Japanese cotton mills and against the Municipal Council’s proposals to institute four new by-laws. These by-laws talked about prohibiting the publication of items lacking the name and address of the publisher, increasing wharfage dues, registering stocks and produce exchanges, and limiting child labour.

Aftermath

Violent demonstrations, along with strikes and boycotts continued in the worst form and spread throughout the country. The 15 “ringleaders” who were arrested were given light or suspended sentences by Shanghai’s foreign-run Mixed Court. But the protestors didn’t stop. The target of the demonstrations shifted from the Japanese to the British and Hong Kong.

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The compromise proposal of the strike included, first, the reinstatement of workers and strike pay equal to one-third of their normal pay; second, punishment for those responsible for the 30 May incident and compensation for the families of the victims of the confrontation. The demonstrators also demanded recognition of all unions affiliated with the Shanghai General Union, a 10 percent wage increase, and guarantees against poor treatment and unfair dismissal of workers. And hence, by the end of August, workers returned back to their jobs. Also, by the end of September, the agreement was made with British mill owners as well and by early October, normal routine order was restored in Shanghai.

Glossary

Second Zhili–Fengtian War: a conflict between the Japanese-backed Fengtian clique based in Manchuria, and the more liberal Zhili clique controlling Beijing and backed by Anglo-American business interests.
KMT: The Kuomintang; is a major political party in the Republic of China throughout its historical periods in both the Chinese mainland as well as Taiwan.

References and Attributions