In the so-called "concessions" of the treaty ports Tientsin and Shanghai, foreigners live off the fat of the land

In the so-called "concessions" of the treaty ports Tientsin and Shanghai, foreigners live off the fat of the land. They are exempt from Chinese taxes, they stand above Chinese law. And all quite above board, their garrisons and police are there in force to protect their special status. To third generation settlers this world of privilege is the only world they know, so all the greater the shock when the unequal treaties are abrogated and they find themselves outsiders, held as contemptible as their grandparents against whom the Boxers rose in such bloody revolt.

Battle cry of the Boxers, China's Freedom Fighters of 1900

Never mind soya for our noodles,

We're going to smash the Legation Quarter.

Never mind gravy for our noodles,

We're going to smash the British Embassy.

Never mind vinegar for our noodles,

We're going to smash the West Arsenal.

(The ringing rhyme is lost in translation, but not the message.)

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Second printing December 1996

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Power, Desmond, 1923Little foreign devil

ISBN 0-9694122-1-5

1. Power, Desmond, 1923- 2. World War, 1939-1945-Personal narratives, British. 3. World War, 1939-1945-Prisons and prisoners, Japanese. 4. World War, 1939-1945-China--Tientsin. 5. Prisoners of war--Great Britain-Biography. 6. Prisoners of war--China--Tientsin--Biography. 7. Tientsin (China)--Biography. 8. China--History--Republic, 1912-1949. 1. Title.

D805.C5P68 1996 940.53'175114'092 C95-911002-X

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