Phan Boi Chau - Final Capture

Final Capture

In 1925, Phan arrived in Shanghai on what he thought was a short trip on behalf of his movement. But as soon as he arrived he was arrested by French agents and transported back to Hanoi. Phan wrote about this event:

"I did not realize that every minute of my activities was being reported to the French by Nguyễn Thượng Hiền, a man who lived with me and was supported by me. When this Nguyen Thuong Huyen first arrived in Hangchow, he was with Tran Duc Quy; I was quite dubious about him. But later I heard that he was a great-nephew of Main Son (Nguyễn Thượng Hiền), well versed in literary Chinese, the holder of a cử nhân (舉人) degree and familiar with French and quốc ngữ. Owing to his capabilities, I kept him on as my secretary without suspecting that he was an informer for the French.

"At 12 noon on the eleventh day of the Fifth Month, my train from Hangchow arrived at the North Station Shanghai. In order to go quickly to the bank to send the money, I left my luggage at the depository and carried only a small bag with me. As soon as I came out of the train station, I saw a rather luxurious automobile and four Westerners standing by it. I did not realize that they were French, because in Shanghai there was a great mixture of Westerners and there were swarms of foreign visitors. It was quite common for cars to be used to pick up hotel guests. Little did I know that this car was there to kidnap someone! When I had gone a few steps from the station, one of the Westerners came up to me and said in Mandarin: 'This car is very nice; please get in.' I politely refused, saying 'I do not need a car.' Suddenly, one of the Westerners behind the car with a great heave pushed me inside it, the engine accelerated and we were off like a shot. In no time we had already entered the French Concession. The car drew up to the waterfront, where a French warship was docked. I now became a prisoner on this warship."

When he was transported back to Hanoi, he was held in Hỏa Lò prison. At first, the French authorities did not release his real name, in order to avoid public disturbances. But it quickly leaked out who he was. A criminal trial followed, with all the charges going back to 1913 when he had been sentenced to death in absentia. The charges included incitement to murder and supplying an offensive weapon used to commit murder in two incidents, which had resulted in the deaths of a Vietnamese governor on 12 April 1913 and of two French majors on 28 April 1913. The court sentenced Phan to penal servitude for life. He was released from prison on 24 December 1925 by Governor General Alexandre Varenne, in response to huge public protests. He was placed under house arrest in a house in Huế where Nguyễn Bá Trác lived. Trác was a former member of the Ðông-Du movement who had become an active collaborator with the French. Guards kept the house under surveillance, so visits by his admirers were a bit inhibited. More public protests against his house arrest caused the authorities to allow him to move to a house which had been organised by his supporters. It was a thatched house divided into three sections and had a medium-sized garden. Here he was able to meet his supporters, his children and his grandchildren. In 1926, when Phan Chu Trinh died, Phan presided over a memorial service for him in Huế. Phan spent his last fifteen years living a quiet life in Huế. He would often relax by taking boat trips on the Sông Hương (Perfume River). He died on 29 October 1940, about a month after Japan invaded northern Vietnam. Most cities in Vietnam have named major streets after him. However, after the North Vietnamese takeover of South Vietnam in 1975, many major streets in several major Southern cities that were previously named after Phan Boi Chau were renamed after Phan Dan Luu (vi:Phan Đăng Lưu), an anti-colonial communist revolutionary who was executed by French colonial authorities in 1941.