| Show CHINESE PIRATES OPENLY DEFY LAW trade a flourishing one in eastern waters the fine art of buccaneering buccaneer ino as practiced by the sea wolves of south china may lack much of the romance and of the days of the span ish main but the principle Is exactly the same blood Is spilled ships are captured by the dozens and hundreds of cap captives tiNes carried off tor for ransom in many respects the chinese buc cancer is a more crafty more cold blooded individual than the captain kidds of yore afraid of nothing ex capt possibly a bath he pursues his calling with methodical boldness and today as centuries ago spreads ter and death among the sh ps plying the south china seas bias bay about 65 miles from hongtong Bong Hong kong almost within the range ot of british guns Is the stronghold of the pirate gangs almost continual warfare has been conducted against them for five decades but they still carry on braving battleships and submarines even airplanes they sally forth in their little junks seize a merchantman kidnap a few chinese and return to their base where they appear to live the lives of simple and harmless fishermen in the last ten years an average of three foreign ships a year have hane been pirated in bias bay territory how many chinese ships ind junks have beo seized is not known but it Is safe to presume that the total runs into three figures annually until recently little resistance was vms offered by the ships officers and pliancy acy was considered by the chinese a fairly safe trade to follow in the case of foreign vessels all piracies are committed by men pos ing as passengers pis the danger would be too great to risk staging an attack by the sea although that method proved effect effective iNe in the dass of sail ing ships with supplies of arms and ammu smuggled aboard and the ship well out at sea the pirates usually in the steerage attack the crew at a given signal from the leader one group attacks the bridge and seizes the captain another the engine room while a third coders the passengers at pistol s point and keeps them from interfering after the ship has been captured the pilot Is ordered to steer for a point ot of land where comrades of the pirates 4 are waiting in the mean time the passengers are robbed of their valuables those to be taken captive lined up on the deck and bound while the sh p s stores are relieved of all articles that can be conveniently handled the chief reason that piracy Is al lowed to continue in south china la Is that the british authorities are more or les powerless to conduct an ex tion on a big scale without in fringing on chinese sovereign rights although the chinese authorities themselves have admitted their in ability to deal with the buccaneers they have refused many times to co with the british in any effort to punish the freebooters |
