The International Development of China

by Yat-sen Sun

[PROGRAM III]

The main feature of the third program will be the construction of a great southern port which will complete the plan for three first-class seaports in China as proposed in the preliminary part of this International Development Scheme. Our Great Southern Port will naturally be Canton, which is not only the center of commerce in South China but also the largest city in all China. Until recent times it was the largest city on the coasts of the Pacific, and the center of commerce of Asia. With the development of China, Canton will surely resume its former importance. Around this southern metropolis I formulate the third program as follows:

I. The Improvement of Canton as a World Port.

II. The Improvement of the Waterway System of Canton.

III. The Construction of the Southwestern Railway System of China.

IV. The Construction of Coast Ports and Fishing Harbors.

V. The Establishment of Shipbuilding Yards.

PART I
The Improvement of Canton as a World Port

Canton's position as a seaport has been taken away by Hongkong since its cession to England after the Opium War. But as a commercial center of South China, Canton still holds its own, despite the advantages of deep-water harbor, the artificial improvements of Hongkong, and the political dominance of England. The loss of its position as a seaport is entirely due to the ignorance of the Chinese people who never made any combined effort to improve the welfare of the country, and also to the corrupt government and officials of the Manchu dynasty. Since the establishment of the Republic, the people have begun to awake very rapidly and many schemes have been suggested to make Canton a seaport. This awakening of the millions of Chinese has caused much apprehension to the Hongkong Government. The authorities of that colony have been doing their utmost to hinder every move to restore Canton as a seaport and try to nip every scheme in the bud. Of course, if Canton is improved and made into a world port, then all the services that Hongkong performs for her as a shipping stage would be dispensed with altogether. But a developed Canton and a prosperous China will recompense Hongkong in various ways a hundred times more than its present position as the monopolized ocean port of a backward and poor China. Just look at the port of Victoria in British Columbia, which was once the only seaport of West Canada as well as the Northwestern region of the United States, but it prospered very little then with an undeveloped hinterland despite its monopolistic character. Whereas as soon as the rival ports arose, Vancouver on its own side, and Seattle and Tacoma on the American side, all within the same distance as Hongkong is to Canton, all of them because of a developed hinterland prospered wonderfully, despite the keen competition between them as seaports. Thus, we see that competitive seaports like Vancouver, Seattle, and Tacoma instead of killing Victoria, as was once supposed by shortsighted people, have made it more prosperous than ever. Then, why doubt that a prosperous Canton and a developed China would not give the same result to Hongkong? This is but a natural outcome. Therefore, there should be no fear that a prosperous Canton and a developed China would be harmful to Hongkong as a free port. So, instead of doing the utmost as hitherto to hinder the development of Canton as a seaport, the Hongkong authorities should do their utmost to encourage such a project. Besides, the development of Canton and South China will benefit the English as a whole commercially a hundred times more than Hongkong can do at present. Although the local authorities of that crown colony do not see far enough to realize it, however, I believe that the great statesmen and captains of industries in the now mightiest empire of the world would surely see it. With this belief in my mind I feel quite safe in giving publicity to the scheme of my international development of Canton as a world port in South China.

Canton is situated at the head of the Canton Delta, which is formed by the junction of three rivers—the Sikiang or West River, the Peikiang or North River, and the Tungkiang or East River. The area of this delta is about 3,000 square miles and it has the most fertile alluvial soil known in China. The land yields three crops a year—two crops of rice and one crop of other products such as potatoes or beets. In silk culture, it gives eight crops every year. The most delicious fruits of many varieties are produced in this delta. This is the most thickly populated district of all China. Within this delta and its immediate neighborhood, more than half of the population of Kwangtung province is found. This is the reason why, despite the great productivity of this fertile delta, large quantities of foods have to be supplied by the surrounding country as well as by foreign imports. Before the age of machinery Canton for centuries was well known as an industrial center of Eastern Asia. The workmanship and handicraft of its people are still unequaled in many parts of the world. If machinery will be introduced in its industries under our international development scheme, Canton will soon recover its former grandeur as a great manufacturing center.

As a world port, Canton is in a most advantageous position. Being situated at the junction of three navigable rivers and at the head of the ocean navigation it is a pivot of inland water as well as ocean communication in South China. If the Southwestern railway system is completed, then Canton will be equal in importance to the two great ports in North and East China, in regard to transportation facilities. The ocean approach of Canton is generally deep excepting at two points which can be easily trained and dredged to enable modern liners to pass in and out at any hour. The deep water line of the ocean reaches up to Lingting Island, where the depth is from 8 to 10 fathoms. Above Lingting, the channel gets shallower (about 3 or 4 fathoms) and runs about 15 miles up to the Fumen Entrance. From this point the water becomes deep again (between 6 and 10 fathoms) right up to the Second Bar—a distance of 20 miles. At the Second Bar, the water is about 18 to 20 feet deep for only a few hundred yards. After crossing the Second Bar, the water becomes deep again for a distance of 10 miles averaging about 30 feet deep up to the First Bar which will be the city limit of our future Canton.

To improve the Approach to Canton, I suggest that two submerged training walls be built at the left side of Canton Estuary above Lingting Island—one from the shore to the head of the Kongsu Bank, and another from the end of the same bank to the head of the Lingting Bank. The first training wall will be 3 to 4 feet under water just at the same level of the bank. The second wall will be from 4 feet at one end to 16 feet at the other, which are the levels of the respective banks which it connects. (See (1) (3) Map XI.) It will cross a channel of 24 feet deep between them. These two walls together with the four-foot Kongsu Bank will act as one continuous wall and will direct the undercurrent which now runs between the left shore and Lingting Bank, into the middle part of the estuary, thus cutting a channel between the bar and the bank of the same name to meet the deep water on the west side of Lingting Island. On the right side of the Canton Estuary, a training wall should be built from the lower part of Fraser Bank in a southeasterly direction across the 24-foot channel into the Lingting Bar ending at the east edge of that bar. (See (2) Map XI.) Thus, with these submerged walls on both sides of the estuary to confine the undercurrent in the middle, a very deep channel can be formed to connect with the Fumen Entrance at one end and the Lingting trough at the other both of which are about 50 feet deep so that a thoroughfare from deep sea right up to the Second Bar of the Pearl River will be created.

These submerged sea walls taken together are about 8 miles in length and will be built only 6 to 12 feet from the bottom of the sea. The expenses will not be much while the acceleration of the natural reclamation process will be very great. Thus, the lands that will be formed on both sides by these walls will far more than repay the expenses of the work of building these walls.