Letter from Father Fergus Murphy¹ to Sheila G. Murphy (Dublin)
(Copy)

Dear Sheila,
There is a boat going out to Hong Kong in a couple of days' time so this may reach by airmail from there. I am enclosing copy of correspondence as regards the renewal or issuing of new passports to Irish citizens out here. The Irish citizen referred to is a Dr. Ledwidge.² I know nothing about him personally, but gossip has it that he is a kind of English-Irishman who has now turned ultra-Irish and had hopes of getting the job of Irish Consul. According to the British Consul he started an Irish Citizens' Association but none of us had ever heard of it and I do not think that any of us would join it, having been started and run by him. I am just giving you this lowdown on the general situation here. As it is all based on hearsay I naturally put none of it in my letter to the Passport Office. Anyway I hope that I do not get a reply from the Passport Office asking me to go to the Dr. or to the Association. I hope they can get the matter settled fairly quickly. Personally I would not recommend trusting the post. But if they wish to chance that it is all right with us as we can keep our old passports till the new one arrives. The British Consul told me he would not be allowed to send a passport through the post even from here to Hankow.

Have you any idea what the Irish Government's policy will be as regards recognising the new Government in China? It may affect our situation out here considerably - as regards getting permission for men to return to China - internal travel and general treatment. If Britain recognises it and Ireland does not - I can see all those with Irish passports getting turned down in any requests they make.

Their right to recognition is based on the same reason as that of the previous crowd. Victory on the battlefield. They are here to stay in so far as anything is stable in the present world. There is no third party to put them out and the old reactionaries are finished. On the other hand they are fundamentally anti-West and anti-religion but there is at present less corruption among them than among the reactionaries. General treatment of us throughout the country is very varied. The worst is my old area. The two priests of my old parish have just been squeezed out - house taken. Same policy is apparent in two other places. Other two areas carrying on reasonably well at the moment. At present I have no chance of getting permission to go and visit the missions up country liberated since last May - though that is one of my duties. They turned down my request to let one priest return from Ireland to Shanghai though that was early on and I think I had better leave it alone now till I see what the policy on recognition will be. Our biggest problem is question of taxes. They ask for such sums that we will not be able to continue if it keeps on. Then you have interference with schools and taking over of buildings, etc. In some parts when they realise that we are not imperialists and are willing to obey all Chinese laws they have been more friendly. Though on the whole I would say that any tolerance of us or business people is a mere temporary policy. From a purely practical point of view as regards easing our situation here - we might benefit considerably by recognition even if only for a time, but I realise that there may be other factors involved before a decision is made. The telegram from the 'Irish workers' congratulating Mao Tse Tung created quite a favourable impression in one of our areas.