Well cousin, it sure was hard to leave you in Hong Kong all on your own. Though you’ve got Tanaka, who is a good man, albeit one in a tight spot. Why do you have to be so stubborn? I’m sure you’re right that all the news coming out of China is propaganda, but I promise you the basic reporting is correct. I’m not a radio man for nothing, you know. I managed to drag my radio set into these hills, so I’m one of very few folks up here who knows what’s going on. Six days already since Kowloon fell to the Japanese Army. The New Territories are overrun. Chinese people here are feeling pretty abandoned by the British, who didn’t even have to courtesy to let them know the state of affairs, but left them here to die, just so their own lives would be easier in retreat on the Hong Kong side. I won’t describe to you the scenes of murder and looting I’ve seen, though if I did, I know you would change your mind about Asia for Asians. I’m sure Brother Du Bois would too. He’s a good man and an intelligent man. His only fault, as far as I’m concerned, is that he is not here. The Japanese are brutal. Their Taiwanese allies are even more so. But our people—Triads, fifth columnists, and bandits from our own hills, are some of the very worst.

The news just came through that Hong Kong Island has surrendered, and that all the British have laid down their arms. If it means the pillage can stop, that would be a blessing. If it were only soldiers who were being killed, that would be awful enough, but I’ve heard tales of women and girls rounded up into houses and systematically raped. I’ve heard stories of crowds of refugees loaded onto boats that are then sunk. These murderers like to behead people. Every house in Kowloon has been stripped of its contents, and any inhabitants that didn’t go into hiding quick enough were killed. These hills are thick with refugees, upon whom the lawless prey. If someone doesn’t impose some kind of order soon, the same horrors are going to spread to Hong Kong Island. I’m worried about you.